D'visioQ  T)5810 
Section  * ^ ^ 


Lr’tekTMa 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/japanesenationit00nito_0 


By  Inazo  Nitobe 


The  Japanese  Nation 

Its  Land,  Its  People,  and  Its  Life.  With 
Special  Consideration  to  Its  Relations 
with  the  United  States 


Bushido 


The  Soul  of  Japai 


The  Japanese  Nation 

Its  Land,  Its  People,  and  Its  Life 


With  Special  Consideration  to  Its  Relations  with 
the  United  States 


In£izo  Nitobe, 

A.M.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 


President  of  the  First  National  College,  Japan 
Professor  in  the  Imperial  University  of  Tokyo 
Exchange  Professor  from  Japan  to  American  Universities 
Author  of  " Bushido,  the  Soul  of  Japan,”  etc. 


IVit/i  a Map 


G.  P.  Putnam’s  Sons 

New  York  and  London 
^be  f^nfcbccbocber  pceas 
1912 


Copyright,  191a 

BY 

INAZO  NITOBE 


Vbe  finfcfierboctieT  ptees,  nerv  Sorft 


THE  UNIVERSITIES  OF 


BROWN 
COLUMBIA 
JOHNS  HOPKINS 


UNDER  WHOSE  AUSPICES 

VIRGINIA 

ILLINOIS 

MINNESOTA 

WERE  DELIVERED  THE  LECTURES  WHICH 

GAVE  IT  BIRTH 

I DEDICATE  THIS  BOOK 


IN  GRATEFUL  REMEMBRANCE 


PREFACE 


The  present  work  is  the  outcome  of  my  labours 
as  Japanese  exchange  professor  in  this  coun- 
try, during  the  academic  year  of  1911-12,  and 
I take  this  opportunity  of  explaining  how  my  work 
began  and  ended. 

The  idea  of  sending  public  men  of  note  un- 
officially from  this  country  to  Japan  and  from 
Japan  to  the  United  States,  owes  its  inception  to 
Mr.  Hamilton  Holt  of  New  York  City.  When 
his  plan  had  been  developed  to  a certain  degree 
of  feasibility,  the  task  of  carrying  it  into  effect 
was  accepted  by  President  Nicholas  Murray 
Butler  of  Columbia  University,  in  whose  hands 
the  idea  took  the  more  practical  if  the  less  am- 
bitious form  of  an  exchange  professorship,  and  he 
interested  certain  typical  universities  to  join  in 
putting  it  into  effect.  After  the  enterprise  was 
fairly  launched,  the  responsibility  for  its  continu- 
ance was  passed  on  to,  and  made  a part  of,  the 
work  of  the  Carnegie  Peace  Endowment.  My 
labours  commenced  after  the  project  had  reached 
its  second  stage  of  development — namely,  while 
the  Universities  concerned  had  the  matter  in  their 
immediate  charge. 


V 


VI 


Preface 


In  the  spring  of  last  year,  the  six  American 
Universities  of  Brown,  Coltimbia,  Johns  Hopkins, 
Virginia,  Illinois,  and  Minnesota — representing  the 
Eastern,  Southern,  and  Middle-Western  portions 
of  the  Continent — united  in  instituting  an  ex- 
change of  lecturers  with  Japan.  The  object  of 
the  scheme — as  I take  it — is  the  interchange  of 
right  views  and  sentiments  between  the  two 
peoples,  rather  than  a mutual  giving  and  taking 
of  strictly  academic  knowledge.  The  appointees, 
whether  men  of  science  or  men  of  affairs  or  of 
literary  reputation,  are  expected  to  be  convoys  of 
warm  human  feeling  rather  than  of  cold  scientific 
truth. 

Through  President  Butler  and  our  Embassy  in 
Washington,  negotiations  were  started  between 
the  said  Universities  and  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment. The  latter  expressed  its  readiness  to  meet 
the  proposal;  whereupon  the  association  formed 
of  those  business  men  who  visited  this  country  a 
few  years  ago,  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  under- 
taking by  assuming  the  financial  responsibility, 
provided  the  Government  would  help  by  recom- 
mending a man  for  the  task. 

Late  in  June,  I was  unexpectedly  asked  to  come 
to  the  United  States  on  this  delightful,  though 
arduous,  mission,  the  Government  releasing  me 
for  a year  from  the  duties  of  my  official  posts  as 
President  of  the  First  National  College,  as  Pro- 
fessor of  Colonial  Policy  in  the  Imperial  Univer- 
sity of  Tokyo,  and  as  Adviser  to  the  Formosan 


Preface 


vii 

Government.  I accepted  the  honour  with  sincere 
pleasure  and  yet  with  trepidation.  Is  it  necessary 
to  explain  why  the  appointment  gave  me  pleasure? 
Reasons  which  will  naturally  suggest  themselves 
to  everyone — an  enjoyable  trip,  meeting  with  con- 
genial people,  renewing  old  acquaintance,  taking 
my  wife  to  her  native  home,  the  honour  of  being 
the  first  exchange  professor  from  my  country — all 
had  their  due  share  in  my  willingness  to  come. 
But  there  was  a particular  reason  which  made  the 
proposal  singularly  attractive  to  me.  Allow  me 
to  relate  a personal  incident. 

Nearly  thirty  years  ago,  when  applying  for 
admission  to  the  University  in  Tokyo  as  a student, 
I selected  English  Literature  for  my  minor  course, 
in  addition  to  my  major  study  of  Economics.  The 
Dean  of  the  Department  of  Literature  questioned 
me  as  to  my  motive  for  combining  these  two 
apparently  unrelated  branches  of  learning.  “I 
wish,  sir,  to  be  a bridge  across  the  Pacific,”  I 
replied.  On  being  pressed  for  further  explanation, 
I threw  aside  the  metaphor  and  told  him  of  my 
desire  to  be  a means  of  transmitting  the  ideas  of 
the  West  to  the  East,  and  of  the  East  to  the  West. 
Though  it  was  a fancy  of  youth,  it  was  a wish  that 
had  been  slowly  forming  during  my  collegiate 
days,  and  though  the  days  of  youth  have  long 
since  gone  by,  the  fancy  has  remained,  waxing 
stronger  with  the  progress  of  years. 

To  transmit  a thought  from  one  to  another  may 
not  require  an  intellect  of  high  order  or  an  original 


Preface 


viii 

cast  of  mind;  but  I am  more  than  willing  to  play 
a second  or  even  a third  part,  if  I can  thereby  add 
a note — be  it  ever  so  low — toward  the  fuller  har- 
mony of  diverse  nations  or  of  discordant  notions. 

Here  then  is  my  chief  motive  for  accepting  the 
responsibility  of  an  untried  duty  which  I did  not 
enter  upon  boldly.  No  one  knows  better  than 
myself  how  far  short  of  its  great  object  I have 
fallen,  and — ^may  I add? — how  much  farther  I 
should  have  fallen  if  I had  not  had  the  constant 
assistance  and  never-failing  attention  of  my  wife. 
I must  not  omit  a w^ord  of  recognition  for  the 
loyal  service  rendered  throughout  my  stay  in  the 
States  by  my  friend  and  companion,  Mr.  Yusuke 
Tsurumi. 

The  regular  demands  of  the  lectureship  con- 
sisted in  delivering  in  each  University  a course  of 
eight  addresses.  For  these  I chose  the  subjects 
given  in  Chapters  I to  VI  inclusive,  and  Chapters 
VIII  and  XI.  Chapter  VII — on  Education — is 
based  on  an  address  made  before  the  Barnard 
Club  in  Providence,  and  before  the  Teachers’  Club 
in  Columbia  University,  also  before  the  Pedagogi- 
cal Seminary  of  Johns  Hopkins.  The  chapter  on 
Japan  as  Coloniser  is  an  amplification  of  remarks 
made,  without  notes,  in  the  Japan  Conference  held 
at  Clark  University,  and,  later,  before  the  National 
Geographic  Association  in  Washington.  Chapter 
X is  a reproduction  of  the  paper  sent  to  the  meet- 
ing of  the  American  Historical  Association  in 
Buffalo,  December,  1911,  when  illness  prevented 


Preface 


IX 


me  from  attending  in  person.  The  final  chapter, 
with  some  slight  verbal  changes,  is  a copy  of  the 
Convocation  Address  which  I had  the  honour  of 
making  at  the  University  of  Chicago  near  the  close 
of  last  year.  The  first  address  which  I delivered 
in  this  country  was  in  response  to  the  invitation  of 
Leland  Stanford  Jr.  University;  but,  as  it  contains 
a number  of  local  allusions,  I have  placed  it  last  as 
an  Appendix. 

Should  this  book  fall  into  the  hands  of  any  one 
of  some  forty  thousand  hearers,  whom  it  has  been 
my  good  fortune  to  address,  in  the  one  hundred 
and  sixty-six  lectures  and  speeches  I have  made 
in  the  course  of  my  year’s  so]Oum  in  this  land,  he 
will  find  that  none  of  them  is  exactly  like  that  to 
which  he  listened;  but  he  will  recognise  that  the 
general  trend  of  thought  and  message  is  the  same. 

To  hearer  and  reader  I feel  like  apologising  for 
not  selecting  more  instructive  subjects  and  for  not 
presenting  in  a more  interesting  manner  the  themes 
chosen.  It  was  indeed  solicitude  regarding  the 
choice  and  treatment  of  subjects  which  caused  me 
to  embark  upon  this  mission  with  trepidation. 
Until  I faced  my  first  audience  at  Brown  Univer- 
sity, I had  not  had  the  least  intimation  as  to  the 
character  and  interests  of  those  who  might  favour 
me  with  their  presence.  While  I was  preparing 
two  or  three  of  my  lectures,  before  leaving  my 
country,  how  little  did  I anticipate  that  more  than 
half  of  my  lecture-halls  would  be  graced  by  ladies ! 
Aly  original  manuscripts  were  prepared  with  a 


X 


Preface 


small  group  of  students  in  view,  and  when  I com- 
pare these  with  the  book  that  is  now  presented  to 
the  public,  I am  astonished  at  my  own  unsophisti- 
cated ideas  of  ten  months  ago.  How  in  this  cotm- 
try  one  comes  to  adjust  one’s  thought  and  speech 
to  a broad -cultured,  general  public!  As  I have 
grown  more  and  more  intimate  with  my  audience, 
I confess  my  regret  that  I did  not  confine  the  whole 
field  of  my  lectures  to  more  specialised  subjects, — 
particularly  to  the  relations  between  the  United 
States  and  Japan;  but  when  that  regret  came — 
regrets  are  rarely  timely  visitors! — it  was  too  late 
to  write  the  course  anew.  I am  happy  to  add, 
however,  that  my  regret,  if  late,  was  brief.  A 
month  before  my  duties  ended,  a countryman  of 
mine — Kiyoshi  Kawakami — brought  forward  the 
result  of  his  serious  and  careful  study  regarding 
American- Japanese  relations,  treating  the  sub- 
ject in  a far  more  judicious  form  and  attractive 
style  than  I could  ever  do. 

If  then  my  regret  was  short-lived,  what  of  the 
misgivings  with  which  I left  Japan  ? It  is  only  just 
for  me  to  admit  that  these  had  largely  vanished, 
ere  my  work  was  finished ; but  for  this  fact  I claim 
no  credit  to  myself.  Had  it  not  been  for  the 
patience  of  those  who  did  not  agree  with  my  opin- 
ion or  could  not  follow  my  imperfect  delivery; 
had  it  not  been  for  the  approval  and  sympathy  of 
those  who  shared  my  viewpoint;  had  it  not  been 
for  the  positive  encouragement  and  appreciation 
of  those  who  are  friendlily  disposed  toward  me  and 


Preface 


XI 


toward  my  people,  my  original  misgivings  would 
have  been  more  than  realised,  and  the  first  well- 
meant  attempt  to  effect  a closer  bond  by  means 
of  an  academic  bridge  between  the  two  nations 
might  have  ended  in  disaster. 

Let  me  therefore  express  my  gratitude  for,  and 
gratification  at,  the  reception  accorded  my  lectures 
such  as  they  were.  Wherever  I have  been,  be  it 
in  a great  University  or  in  a small  country  school; 
be  it  in  a public  entertainment  in  large  cities  or  in 
the  midst  of  an  informal  family  circle,  I have 
invariably  enjoyed  unstinted  hospitality  and  a 
gracious  welcome.  The  newspapers,  which  are 
not  always  known  for  their  courtesy,  and  even 
certain  journals  that  have  won  a reputation  for 
their  anti- Japanese  utterances,  have  very  often 
surprised  me  by  their  friendly  reports  in  regard 
to  my  work.  The  past  year  has  been  for  me  a 
continuous  feast  of  mind  and  soul,  and  now,  on 
the  eve  of  my  departure  from  America,  let  me 
cast  one  more  glance  upon  the  places  I have 
visited  and  the  people  I have  met,  that  they 
may  the  more  indelibly  stamp  themselves  upon 
my  memory,  and  that  I may  take  home  the 
unchanged  friendship  of  the  American  people 
towards  us,  so  often  and  everywhere  expressed 
to  me. 

It  is  very  gratifying  to  learn  that,  by  the  time 
I shall  reach  my  home,  there  will  closely  fol- 
low, in  person,  an  envoy  of  American  good-will. 
I have  recently  been  officially  informed  that 


Xll 


Preface 


Dr.  Hamilton  Wright  Mabie  has  been  appointed 
as  exchange  lecturer  to  Japan.  That  this  able 
thinker,  eminent  writer,  and  perfect  gentleman 
can  and  will  carry  the  message  of  his  coimtry  to 
Japan  with  charm  and  erudition,  there  is  no 
shadow  of  doubt.  Should  his  Japanese  audience 
be  able  to  express  half  the  good-will  that  it  is  sure 
to  feel,  the  first  span  of  the  trans-Pacific  bridge 
will  have  been  constructed. 


PocoNO  Manor  Inn, 
June  20,  1912. 


Inazo  Nitob6. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PACE 

I. — The  East  and  the  West  . . i 

II. — The  Land  or  Geographical  Features 
IN  their  Relation  to  the  Inhabi- 
tants   21 

III.  — The  Past  in  its  Significance  to  the 

Present 48 

IV.  — Race  and  National  Characteristics  83 

V. — Religious  Beliefs  , . . .116 

VI. — Morals  and  Moral  Ideals  . .150 

VII. — Education  and  Educational  Problems  i 76 

VIII. — Economic  Conditions  . . . 204 

IX. — Japan  as  Coloniser  . . .231 

X. — American  - Japanese  Intercourse 

Prior  to  the  Advent  of  Perry  258 

XI. — The  Relations  between  the  United 
States  and  Japan 

xiii 


278 


XIV 


Contents 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XII. — American  Influence  in  the  Far 

East 300 

Appendix — Peace  over  the  Pacific  316 

Index 331 


The  Japanese  Nation 


■ 


The  Japanese  Nation 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  EAST  AND  THE  WEST 

AS  facilities  of  intercommunication,  and  there- 
fore points  of  contact,  have  of  late  rapidly- 
increased,  and  as  the  East  and  the  West  can  now 
see  and  hear  each  other  at  close  range  on  matters 
of  business  interests,  instead  of  merely  exchanging 
courtesies  at  a polite  distance,  occasions  have 
likewise  more  frequently  arisen  for  misunderstand- 
ing and  for  doubt.  The  reasons  for  this  seem 
manifest,  and  among  them  is  Imperialism,  the 
overpowering  trend  of  the  last  century,  which, 
causing  the  stronger  nations  to  overleap  their  re- 
spective territorial  bounds,  has  brought  them  face 
to  face  with  one  another  in  unexpected  quarters 
distant  from  home.  The  Dutch  and  the  English, 
for  instance,  encountered  each  other  in  an  un- 
wonted relation  on  the  South  African  veldt.  The 
Japanese  and  the  Russians  renewed  acquaintance 
imder  strained  circumstances  on  the  plains  of  Man- 


1 


2 


TKe  Japanese  Nation 


churia — somewhat  after  the  manner  of  America 
and  Spain  in  Cuba  and  the  Philippines,  or,  more 
recently,  the  Italians  and  the  Turks  in  Tripoli. 
Though  I do  not  desire  a rupture  of  friendship 
between  the  United  States  and  her  friends,  she  may 
yet  face  some  of  them  in  unamiable  converse  on 
the  pampas  of  South  America. 

Upon  the  frontiers  of  empires  has  been  wit- 
nessed the  impingement  of  one  people  upon  another 
during  the  last  two  decades.  When  one  calls  at 
a neighbour’s  front  door,  one  is  usually  received 
with  courtesy ; on  the  other  hand,  one  may  possibly 
be  considered  an  intruder  in  the  back>"ard,  no 
matter  how'  innocent.  Just  as  the  marginal  utility 
of  commodities  fixes  their  value,  as  economists 
teach  us,  so  it  is  in  the  margins  of  civilisations  that 
the  power  of  expansive  nationalities  seems  to  be 
tried  and  determined.  America  has  extended  her 
borders  to  the  Philippines,  and  Japan  rhe  edge  of 
her  dominions  to  Formosa.  Here  they  almost 
meet.  American  trade,  increasing  in  China,  is 
brought  into  competition  with  Japanese,  and  as  in 
these  outskirts  of  commercial  territoiy,  inhabited 
by  alien  races,  each  nation  tries  to  demonstrate 
and  assert  its  own  superiority,  the  timid  are  afraid 
that  we  may  come  to  know  each  other  in  w^ays  not 
always  agreeable. 

With  the  growth  of  Imperialism  the  stronger 
nations  look  upon  each  other  with  suspicion  and 
jealousy,  and,  unlike  the  more  innocent  intercourse 
of  former  days,  when  men  delighted  in  the  ex- 


The  E-ast  and  tKe  AA^est 


3 


change  of  the  ideas  and  arts  of  peace,  modern 
Imperialism,  impelled  by  feverish  megalomania 
and  zest  for  commercial  supremacy,  has  come  to 
regard  all  competitors,  not  only  as  rivals,  but  as 
potential  enemies,  whose  existence  jeopardises  their 
own  and  whose  fate  must  therefore  be  decided  at 
the  point  of  the  sword.  Nor  is  Imperialism  alone 
to  blame ; for  it  is  nowadays  quite  the  proper  thing 
for  dilettante  ethnologists  and  amateur  sociologists 
to  put  forward  their  incomplete  theories  and  in- 
sufficient data  only  to  make  the  imagined  abyss 
between  the  East  and  the  West  appear  more  hope- 
less. How  little  Blumenbach  and  Cuvier  fancied 
that  their  classification  of  the  human  race  by  the 
colour  of  the  skin  would  be  taken  so  seriously  as 
to  become  a cause  of  animosity  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth!  Under  these  circumstances  it  is  the 
duty  of  every  lover  of  humanity  and  of  peace  to  be 
an  interpreter,  a go-between  in  the  supposed  clash 
of  national  interests  and  racial  sentiments. 

Am  I greatly  mistaken  in  believing  that,  as  far 
as  the  race  question  is  concerned,  we  are  now  at  a 
comparatively  early  stage  of  generalisation,  having 
but  just  begun  to  perceive  aggregate  differences? 
Will  not  the  next  stage  be  a fuller  recognition  of 
spiritual  affinity,  of  psychological  unity — a realisa- 
tion that  “mankind  is  one  in  spirit”  and  the  whole 
world  kin? 

I doubt  whether  in  the  earlier  centuries  of  the 
Christian  era  Europe  was  intelligently  aware  of 
its  own  unity,  as  against  the  multitudinous 


4 


XKe  Japanese  Nation 


principalities  and  powers  of  Asia,  any  more 
than  these  are  at  present  conscious  of  their  mutual 
ties. 

The  political  unity  forced  upon  Europe  by  the 
Carlovingians  proved  a premature  coup,  but  re- 
ligious unity  survived  the  imperial  fiasco,  and 
brought  about  social  unity  within  the  boundaries 
of  Europe.  Then  followed  the  Crusades  to  renew 
and  reinforce  the  feeling  of  oneness  among  the 
warring  nations.  The  term  Christendom  was  then 
invented, — its  first  appearance  in  the  English 
language  being  in  1389;  but  it  long  remained  a 
vague,  sentimental  denomination.  With  the  Refor- 
mation and  the  Renaissance  the  glamour  of  the 
Civitas  Dei  receded  more  and  more  into  the  privacy 
of  each  pious  soul,  while  the  civitas  terrena, 
largely  freed  of  the  evil  import  imposed  upon  it 
by  St.  Augustine,  was  upheld  by  necessity,  learn- 
ing, and  custom. 

The  term  Christendom,  which  had  been  steadily 
losing  its  prestige  as  a communion  of  saints,  God’s 
kingdom  on  earth,  assumed  the  new  sense  of  the 
community  of  culture  and  the  comity  of  nations. 
Its  religious  significance  grew  fainter  and  fainter, 
until  it  was  at  last  displaced  by  the  secular  term. 
West,  first  used  by  Monsieur  Comte.  The  selec- 
tion of  this  term  involved  the  thesis  confirming 
the  unity  and  uniformity  of  European  civilisation, 
and  the  antithesis  as  to  its  diversity  from  and 
superiority  to  Oriental  civilisation. 

Discrimination  of  differences  between  the  East 


THe  East  and  tHe  W^est 


5 


and  the  West  certainly  marks  an  advance  in  the 
differentiation  of  ideas  upon  the  age  when  the 
nations  of  Europe  were  blind  to  their  collective 
interests  and  indicates  at  the  same  time  a step 
toward  a larger  synthesis,  whereby  Europe  be- 
comes conscious  of  a common  bond.  But  the 
ancients  seem  to  have  made  Httle  distinction 
between  Europe  and  Asia.  Probably  differences 
were  not  then  so  glaring,  trade  passing  unencum- 
bered to  and  fro,  learning  and  peaceful  arts  being 
freely  exchanged.  In  the  borderland  between  Asia 
and  Europe  mingle  Aryans,  Semites,  and  Tura- 
nians. The  marvellous  civilisation  of  Babylon  was 
not  autochthonous,  nor  was  that  of  ancient  Crete. 
Indeed,  how  mueh  of  Greek  art  and  thought  is 
strictly  Occidental,  I should  like  to  know.  Or, 
how  mueh  of  the  arts  and  philosophy  of  Persia  and 
India  are  strietly  Oriental,  I fain  would  ask.  Until 
the  Middle  Ages  the  world  was  more  homogeneous 
than  now — at  least  in  feeling  and  ideas. 

Take  the  early  history  of  art,  and  it  seems  that 
Greece  and  India  and  China  were  in  pretty  close 
contact.  Compare  ancient  Hindoo  sculpture  with 
Greek,  and  it  is  amazing  to  observe  how  elosely 
allied  they  are,  with  the  Bactrian  as  a link  betw'een 
them.  Place  by  their  side  the  old  Chinese  images, 
until  lately  almost  unknown  and  only  recently 
unearthed,  and  we  feel  that  the  lands  of  Plato  and 
of  Confueius  were  not  irreeoncilably  opposed  in 
culture.  The  vietories  of  Alexander,  somehow,  do 
not  strike  me  as  the  descent  of  an  army  of  eivilisa- 


6 


XHe  Japanese  Nation 


tion  into  a region  of  a very  inferior  grade  of  culture. 
The  Jews  served  for  a long  time  as  cosmopolitan 
mediators  between  Europe  and  Asia  through  their 
commercial  agencies;  then,  later,  the  Arabs,  not 
yet  turned  hostile  to  Christianity,  became  the 
intermediaries  of  Occidental  and  Oriental  science 
and.  art.  But  as  the  Saracens  and  afterguards  the 
Ottomans — or  shall  we  say  Moslems? — interposed 
an  almost  insuperable  barrier  between  Europe  and 
Asia,  the  world  was  practically  rent  in  twain.  Then 
each  began  to  pursue  its  own  course,  irrespective 
of  the  other’s  movements,  so  that  when  Europe 
awoke  from  its  sleep  of  the  Dark  Ages,  Asia  still 
continued  to  slumber;  but  by  the  time  they  met 
again  after  the  lapse  of  centuries  they  could  hardly 
recognise  each  other’s  features.  Rejuvenated  Eu- 
rope, fresh  and  strong,  armed  with  science  and 
trained  in  liberty — how  could  it  own  a friend  of 
‘ ‘ Auld  Lang  Syne  ’ ’ in  decrepit  Asia,  worn  with  age 
and  tom  with  discord ! Sluggard  Asia  had  lost  all 
consciousness  of  unity  of  any  kind.  You  cannot 
call  it  a Buddhaland,  because  unlike  Christ  in 
Europe,  Buddha  has  rivals  claiming  dominion  with 
him ; nor  was  there  any  unity  of  race,  literature,  or 
language.  If  there  was  then  any  East  that  could 
be  named  in  juxtaposition  to  the  West,  it  expressed 
chaos  as  against  order,  a crowd  of  Kings  who 
reigned  without  governing,  a nondescript  mass  of 
beings  who  simply  existed  without  living.  Who 
would  not  then  prefer  “fifty  years  of  Europe  to  a 
cycle  of  Cathay  ’ ’ ? 


THe  Cast  and  the  W^est 


7 


But  the  question  in  my  mind  is  whether  this 
difference  between  the  East  and  the  West  is 
strictly  scientific  or  of  lasting  value?  It  is  said 
that  Leibnitz  divided  the  human  family  into  those 
who  could  read  Latin  and  those  who  could  not; 
and  Mr.  Kipling  mildly  hints  the  classification  of 
the  same  family  into  those  who  wear  trousers  and 
those  who  wear  something  else — to  which  I may 
suggest  adding  those  who  wear  nothing.  The  divi- 
sion of  mankind  into  East  and  West  is  more  con- 
venient but  no  more  scientific  than  that  of  Leibnitz 
or  Kipling;  for  with  Alexander  Pope,  we  may 

“Ask  where ’s  the  North?  At  York,  ’t  is  on  the  Tweed; 

In  Scotland,  at  the  Orcades;  and  there 

At  Greenland,  Zcmbla,  or  the  Lord  knows  where.” 

The  meridian  that  divides  the  globe  into  East  and 
West  is  the  line  which  passes  through  the  place 
where  the  observer  stands  and  through  the  two 
poles.  Hence  there  are  as  many  meridians  as 
there  are  observers  and  what  is  East  to  one  may 
be  West  to  the  other.  The  Arabs  were  called  by 
the  Hebrews  the  children  of  the  East,  and  by  the 
Babylonians  the  dwellers  of  the  West;  and  they 
denominated  themselves  by  either  of  these  names. 
As  there  is  no  absolute  meridian,  East  and  West 
are  merely  relative  terms.  If  the  meridian  at 
Greenwich  was  selected  by  the  convention  of  1884 
in  Washington  as  the  basis  of  calculation  for  the 
world,  that  meridian  itself  was  only  conventional. 


8 


THe  J apanese  Nation 


in  more  senses  than  one,  for  the  little  English  vil- 
lage has  no  other  claim  than  its  observatory  to  be 
the  centre  of  the  world.  The  line  which  there 
divides  East  from  West  also  serves  to  unite  them. 
Hence  we  may  improve  upon  the  rhetoric  of  the 
psalmist  and  say,  “As  near  as  the  east  is  to  the 
west”;  and  hence,  too,  it  is  not  only  when  two 
strong  men,  “coming  from  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
stand  face  to  face,”  but  when  the  weakest  man, 
fixing  his  eyes  upon  the  polar  star,  stretches  out 
his  arms,  that  the  two  hemispheres  are  united,  and 
that  “there  is  neither  East  nor  West,  border  nor 
breed,  nor  birth.”  Without  being  untrue  to  the 
land  of  one’s  birth  or  of  one’s  adoption,  one  may 
say  with  Henry  Clay,  “I  know  no  South,  no 
North,  no  East,  no  West,  to  which  I owe  any 
allegiance.  ” 

No  small  pains  are  taken  to  discover  points  of 
difference  between  East  and  West,  and  of  these 
there  are  many,  especially  of  the  superficial  sort; 
but  the  very  fact  that  attempts  are  made  to  dis- 
cover differences,  takes  points  of  resemblance  for 
granted.  When  I listen  to  the  analysis  of  Japanese 
character  and  institutions  by  a hypercritical  for- 
eigner— and  vice  versa  for  that  matter — I am 
reminded  of  an  anatomist  who  dissects  a woman’s 
corpse  and  eruditely  arrays  all  the  points  wherein 
she  differs  from  man,  and  would  lead  us  to  the 
inevitable  conclusion  that  man  and  woman  are  so 
irreconcilably  opposed  in  every  single  respect  that 
the  two  can  never  be  one.  If  he  were  so  minded, 


XHe  East  and  tKe  M^est 


9 


a nursery  psychologist  could  easily  bring  out  evi- 
dence tending  to  show  that  a parent  and  a child  are 
of  such  different  mental  constitution  that  their 
natural  relations  are  imreasonable  and  must  end 
in  disaster.  A mere  description  without  an  ex- 
planation is  likely  to  lead  to  a wrong  inference. 
Not  much  better  are  the  method  and  attitude 
of  zoilists  who  write  on  Japan.  Every  oddity  in 
manners,  every  idiosyncrasy  in  thought  is  magni- 
fied into  a distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  East 
or  the  West,  as  the  case  may  be;  either  way,  most 
often  for  the  Pharisaical  purpose  of  self-exaltation. 
The  very  faults  that  arc  common  to  both,  are 
deemed  particularly  blameworthy  when  committed 
by  the  other  race.  The  atmosphere  of  the  Pacific 
seems  to  possess  the  obnoxious  power  of  throwing 
above  the  horizon  on  either  side  not  only  an  in- 
verted but  a perverted  mirage.  For  instance,  a 
clever  author  of  a recent  book  dwells  in  some 
detail  on  the  immorality  of  the  Japanese,  which  he 
proves  by  statistics — appalling  figures  indeed — 
but  which  will  stand  comparison  with  similar 
statistics  of  the  city  of  New  York  or  of  Chicago, 
if  he  had  only  given  these.  The  same  gentleman 
casts  a suspicion  upon  oim  public  men — of  course 
in  contrast  to  the  purity  and  invulnerability  of 
American  politicians,  w’ho  never  violate  one  com- 
mandment of  the  Decalogue — the  more  so  as  the 
ten  commandments  made  no  mention  of  graft! 

It  is  not  by  mutual  fault-finding  or  by  exaggerat- 
ing each  other’s  peculiarities  that  we  can  arrive  at 


lO 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


understanding  or  appreciation.  Not  by  antipathy 
but  sympathy;  not  by  hostility  but  by  hospi- 
tality ; not  by  enmity  but  by  amity,  does  one  race 
come  to  know  the  heart  of  another.  I have  already 
intimated  that  the  line  of  division  is  also  the  line 
of  union,  and  “What  God  hath  joined,  let  no  man 
put  asunder.” 

There  is  something  grand  and  graceful  in  the 
old  belief  or  beliefs  as  to  the  locality  of  paradise. 
In  the  early  Christian  Church,  on  the  occasion  of 
his  baptism,  a new  convert  was  made  first  to  face 
the  West  in  abjuring  the  devil  and  his  work,  be- 
cause the  West  was,  according  to  Cyril,  the  region 
of  darkness;  and  then  he  turned  toward  the  East 
in  receiving  ablution,  because  in  that  quarter  of 
the  heavens  was  shown  God’s  peculiar  favour. 
In  strange  contrast  to  this,  did  the  Buddhists 
place  the  abode  of  the  blest  in  the  West,  whither 
the  sun  itself  makes  its  daily  pilgrimage. 

Not  in  the  Occident  and  not  in  the  Orient,  but 
in  the  union  of  both,  will  be  revealed  many  of  the 
secrets  of  Divine  dispensation  as  yet  hidden  from 
our  sight.  A few  days  before  I left  Japan,  Seiho, 
the  greatest  painter  of  Modem  Japan,  said  to  me: 
“Though  I do  not  profess  any  familiarity  with 
European  masters,  I have  great  hopes  in  that 
region  of  art  where  the  East  and  West  come 
together — not  the  neutral  land  that  lies  barren 
between  the  two,  but  where  Western  art  fades  into 
Eastern,  or  where  the  Eastern  lapses  into  the 
Western,  or  where  the  two  domains  overlap,  as  it 


THe  £ast  and  tHe  W^est 


II 


were,  ” As  I listened  to  him,  I thought  to  myself 
that  this  remark  of  his  may  be  applied  to  other 
activities  and  walks  of  human  life  as  well  as  to  art. 
May  we  not  say  that  some  of  the  greatest  discover- 
ies of  biology  have  been  made  in  the  borderland 
where  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms  meet? 
Some  of  the  most  fertile  principles  have  been  found 
in  the  newly  cultivated  field  which  joins  chemistry 
with  physics;  and  as  for  psycho-physics,  delving 
as  it  does  in  a realm  not  yet  named,  between  the 
territories  of  mind  and  of  matter,  it  has  struck 
rich  veins  of  precious  knowledge.  We  may  expect 
the  greatest  fertility  in  the  virgin  soil  where  appar- 
ently contrary  natures  meet  and  wed. 

It  is  said  that  the  genius  of  the  East  is  spiritual, 
mystical,  psychical,  andthatof  the  West  is  material- 
istic, actual,  physical;  it  is  said  that  the  forte  as 
well  as  the  fault  of  the  East  is  religion  and  senti- 
ment, and  that  of  the  West,  science  and  reason; 
it  is  said  that  the  East  delights  in  generalisation 
and  universal  concepts,  and  the  West  in  particu- 
lars and  special  knowledge;  that  the  one  leans  to 
philosophy  and  ideas,  and  the  other  to  practice  and 
facts;  that  Oriental  logic  is  deductive  and  nega- 
tive, and  Occidental  logic  inductive  and  positive. 
It  is  also  said  that  in  political  and  social  life,  soli- 
darity and  socialism  characterise  the  East,  and 
individualism  and  liberty,  the  West;  it  is  said 
again  that  the  Asiatic  mind  is  impersonal  and 
rejects  the  world,  whereas  the  European  mind  is 
personal  and  accepts  the  world.  The  strength  of 


12 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


Europe  lies  in  the  mastery  of  man  over  nature,  and 
the  weakness  of  Asia  in  the  mastery  of  nature  over 
man.  In  the  land  of  the  morning,  man  looks  for 
beauty  first  and  writes  his  flighty  thoughts  in 
numbers;  in  the  land  of  the  evening,  man’s  first 
thought  is  for  utility,  and  he  jots  down  his  observa- 
tions in  numerals.  He  who  watches  the  setting 
sun,  pursues  whither  it  marches,  and  his  watch- 
word is  Progress  and  his  religion  is  the  cult  of  the 
future.  He  who  greets  the  effulgent  dawn  is  there- 
with content  and  cares  not  for  its  further  course, 
but  rather  turns  in  wonderment  to  the  source 
whence  it  came,  hence  his  religion  is  the  cult  of  the 
past.  The  matin  disposes  man  to  contemplation, 
the  vesper  hour  to  reflection.  In  the  East  man 
lives  for  the  sake  of  life ; in  the  West  man  lives  for 
the  means  of  living. 

On  the  whole  there  is  food  for  thought  in  this 
contrast  of  race  peculiarities;  but  such  general 
characterisation  is  of  little  practical  use  in  diplo- 
macy or  in  commerce,  for  the  individuals  with 
whom  we  deal  do  not  always  conform  to  a type, 
and  the  wider  the  scope  allowed  to  individ- 
ual activity,  the  greater  is  the  divergence  from 
the  type.  This  is  distinctly  so  in  Japan,  where  the 
thought  and  the  influence  of  the  East  and  of  the 
West  find  their  meeting  ground.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  sea  which  surrounds  my  country  is  the 
richest  in  varieties  of  fish,  because  the  various 
currents  of  the  ocean  which  wash  our  shores  and 
the  rivers  which  flow  into  its  waters  meet  and 


TKe  £ast  and  tHe  "West 


13 


mingle  and  offer  favourable  conditions  to  various 
forms  of  animal  life.  It  is  along  the  line  which 
unites  the  East  and  the  West  that  we  should  look 
for  a higher  and  a richer  successor  to  our  present 
civilisation. 

But  instructive  and  interesting  as  is  fishing  on 
the  high  seas  of  spectdation,  there  is  a more  press- 
ing and  utilitarian  demand  for  the  study  of  the 
regions  where  Europe  and  Asia  come  in  direct 
contact.  Or — to  put  the  case  more  concisely — 
there  is,  at  present,  urgent  and  practical  need  for 
America  to  understand  Japan.  As  long  as  our 
planet  is  round,  a segmental  or  hemispheric  pro- 
gress, however  .deep,  can  only  remain  fragment- 
ary and  falls  short  of  perfect  culture.  Only  in  a 
mutual  understanding  between  the  opposite  points 
of  the  compass,  can  man  read  the  final  destiny 
of  the  race,  whereas  without  comprehending  the 
antipodal  soul,  he  can  never  discover  his  own 
shortcomings  or  his  peculiar  gifts.  Very  truly 
says  Bailey : 

“ ’T  is  light  translateth  night;  ’t  is  inspiration  ex- 
pounds experience;  't  is  the  West  explains  the  East  ”; 

and  it  is  only  tautological  to  add  that  ’t  is  the  East 
explains  the  West. 

Of  late  years,  most  unfortunately  and  most 
unexpectedly  have  darksome  clouds  been  lowering 
across  the  Pacific  Ocean,  sometimes  reaching  gi- 
gantic proportions  and  assuming  threatening  ap- 


14  XKe  Japanese  Nation 

pearances — so  much  so  that  some  Americans  have 
imagined  they  saw  among  the  clouds  a dragon 
spitting  fire,  as  in  the  cartoon  drawn  by  no  less 
distinguished  a personage  than  Kaiser  Wilhelm. 
There  is  a custom  in  our  country  whereby  literary 
men  who  have  composed  a stanza  ask  their  artist 
friends  to  make  suitable  pictures  to  bring  out  the 
meaning  the  better,  and,  conversely,  artists  ask 
poets  to  write  some  lines  to  elucidate  their  pict- 
ures. When  I first  had  the  honour  of  beholding 
this  celebrated  drawing  of  the  Kaiser,  there  came 
to  my  mind  an  ancient  Japanese  ode: 

“Clouds  on  the  distant  hills 
Of  far  Cathay — 

Smoke  which  from  our  own  hearthstones 
Rose  to-day!”' 

May  we  not  say  that  the  clouds  which  hang  over 
the  Pacific,  if  there  really  are  any,  are  but  the 
accumulation  of  fancies  which  have  emanated 
from  beclouded  brains  amongst  us  and  amongst 
you?  They  are  largely  the  creations  of  Yellow 
Journalism,  for  which,  as  it  enjoys  no  legal  patent 
right,  the  public  pays  in  fright  and  anxiety.  Then 
some  unscrupulous  individuals  make  a regular 
trade  of  spreading  thrilling  news  of  the  imminent 
danger  of  war.  Naturally,  to  satisfy  a general 
craving  for  excitement,  writers  of  fiction  wield  their 
busy  pen,  and  already  on  the  book-stands  are 

’ For  this  translation  I am  indebted  to  Judge  Duke  of  Char- 
lottesville, Va. 


XKe  East  and  tHe  "West 


15 


arrayed  a number  of  their  products  bearing  popu- 
lar titles.  There  is  no  lack  of  authors  who  pander 
to  depraved  or  bloodthirsty  lovers  of  the  fantas- 
tic. There  are,  too,  not  a few  military  and  naval 
men  who  honestly  believe  that  they  can  maintain 
their  profession  in  high  repute,  or  their  trust  in 
high  efficiency,  by  constantly  keeping  possible 
warfare  before  the  eyes  of  the  public.  Then, 
again,  there  are  important  business  concerns  to 
which  a war  scare  is  a source  of  large  orders  and  of 
profit.  Not  seldom  does  it  happen  that  an  order 
for  building  a Dreadnaught  is  preceded  by  loud 
talk  about  complications  with  a foreign  country. 
When  we  learn  that  an  order  for  a single  gunboat 
means  business  to  the  amount  of  six  million  dollars 
and  employment  for  five  thousand  men  for  two 
and  a half  years,  it  is  not  surprising  that  a Japanese 
bogy  should  periodically  appear.  Of  all  forms  and 
methods  of  argumentation,  none  is  more  convin- 
cing, though  text-books  on  rhetoric  refuse  with 
lofty  scorn  to  take  note  of  it,  than  argumentiim  ad 
crumenam  or  ad  hominem;  and  the  deeper  the 
pocket,  the  more  keenly  is  the  force  of  such  logic 
appreciated.  I have  heard  that  a scare-crow  in 
a melon  patch  does  some  good  by  frightening 
away  innocent  birds,  but  that  it  offers  at  the  same 
time  a convenient  cover  for  a thief ! “We  seek  and 
offer  ourselves  to  be  gulled,”  says  IMontaigne. 
The  ancient  Romans  had  an  adage,  “The  populace 
like  to  be  deceived”  {Populus  mill  decipi) — and 
the  populace  have  not  changed  much  since  then, 


l6  The  Japanese  Nation 

despite  all  the  changes  they  have  witnessed.  The 
gullibility  of  the  human  mind  seems  recently  to 
have  assumed  most  appalling  dimensions;  and 
when  it  does  so,  it  is  easily  taken  advantage  of. 
It  is  then  that  false  prophets  and  soothsayers  ply 
their  craft;  and  many,  too  many,  have  already 
made  their  appearance.  Some  of  their  voices  were 
heard  but  lately  in  high  places.  It  is  deeply  to  be 
regretted  that  cheap  prophecies  are  going  to  prove 
very  dear  to  believing  peoples. 

Dolefvd  prophets  there  have  been  in  all  ages  and 
in  all  places; — for  instance,  in  1895,  a young  navy 
officer  uttered  at  Annapolis  a prophecy  that  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  1896  or  1897  ^ great  cataclysm 
would  involve  the  whole  of  Europe,  and  that  Russia 
would  make  irresistible  march  westward,  while 
England  would  dwindle  into  a third-rate  power. 
The  time  that  was  allotted  for  the  fulfilment  of 
this  prophecy  has  long  passed,  and  poor  mortals 
with  limited  vision  still  fail  to  discern  the  signs  of 
its  near  realisation.  Captain  Hobson  started  out 
as  a war  prophet  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-five, 
and  he  still  continues  to  exercise  the  same  gift  of 
foresight,  only  with  this  difference — that  now  the 
field  of  his  prediction  is  the  East  instead  of  the 
West,  and  instead  of  coimting  the  period  of  its 
fulfilment  in  years  he  calculates  it  in  months.  In 
February,  1911,  he  declared  that  a rupture  would 
take  place  between  the  United  States  and  Japan 
within  ten  months — a per  od  of  time  which,  after 
further  consideration,  he  stretched  to  twenty 


THe  £ast  and  tKe  W^est 


17 


months  and  which,  I hope,  he  will  be  further 
inspired  to  prolong  to  eternity. 

Nor  is  Captain  Hobson  the  only  alarmist;  for 
only  last  summer  there  appeared  a rival  prophet 
who  pretended  to  give  a “ mathematieal  analysis 
of  the  astrological  evidence  of  war  with  Japan,” 
in  whieh  the  author  points  out  that  “When  Cali- 
fornia was  admitted  to  the  Union  Uranus  was  in 
Aries  and  when  Washington  was  admitted  Saturn 
and  Neptune  were  cavorting  together  in  an  unholy 
alliance — conclusive  evidence  that  both  these 
States  show  themselves  to  be  a sometime  battle- 
field of  the  nation!” 

Whatever  honour  these  prophets  may  enjoy 
here  in  their  own  country,  they  have  none  in  ours. 
We  are  too  light-hearted  to  take  them  seriously. 
It  is  not  childish  heedlessness  that  makes  us  feel 
light  of  heart.  With  our  eyes  wide  open  and  our 
minds  eager  for  national  safety,  we  still  fail  to 
detect  any  ground  for  going  to  war  with  any  coun- 
try, least  of  all  with  America.  Should  anything 
so  improbable  occur,  you  may  rest  assured  that 
the  initiative  will  not  be  taken  by  Japan. 

The  simple  fact  that  Japan,  during  the  past  two 
decades,  has  engaged  in  two  great  conflicts — or 
three,  if  you  include  her  share  in  the  suppression 
of  the  Boxer  movement — may  give  an  erroneous 
idea  that  we  are  a nation  wantonly  fond  of  fighting, 
a dangerously  cantankerous  character  for  a neigh- 
bour to  have.  But  is  there  any  other  nation  that 
can  boast  of  two  hundred  and  thirty  years  of  con- 


1 8 The  Japanese  Nation 

tinuous  peace?  I do  not  wish  to  brag;  but  I 
should  like  to  know  for  the  sake  of  information 
whether  any  other  country  has  broken  that  record , 
— and  yet  such  is  the  absurdity  of  fame,  that  w^e 
figure  to  the  world  as  a race  of  Myrmidons. 

I have  often  seen  suspicion  cast  upon  Japan 
because  of  her  great  armament;  that  she  must  be 
drilling  her  army  and  building  Dreadnaughts  for 
the  ulterior  purpose  of  territorial  expansion.  I 
personally  am  opposed  to  such  armament;  but 
even  as  it  is,  it  is  not  for  aggression.  You  know 
the  Scotch  proverb,  “Nae  one  can  live  in  peace 
unless  his  neighbours  let  him.”  Or,  to  put  it 
in  more  high-sounding  phraseology,  w’e  have  to 
bring  ourselves  into  selective  accommodation  or 
organic  adjustment  to  the  bellicose  environment 
of  the  twentieth  century.  If  we  need  an  army  or 
navy,  we  need  it  for  self-defence,  self-preservation. 
With  the  acquisition  of  Korea  and  Saghalien,  our 
coast  line  has  increased,  but  not  our  navy  in  the 
same  proportion. 

We  do  not  forget  some  imkind  comments  and 
hard  treatment  from  certain  countries ; but  we  are 
morally  prepared  to  bear  them,  if  not  like  martyrs, 
at  least  Hke  gentlemen.  Like  om  fabled  dragon, 
we  do  not  stir  while  maidens  play  with  our  beard 
or  children  ride  upon  om  back.  But  let  a rude 
hand  touch  his  throat,  the  dragon  will  rise  in  all 
his  native  fury.  You  understand  this  spirit.  It 
is  not  a warhke  or  aggressive  spirit.  Is  it  not  the 
spirit  of  ’76,  as  you  call  it?  When  the  Thirteen 


TKe  East  and  tKe  "West 


19 


Colonies,  the  “ three  millions  of  people  armed  in 
the  holy  cause  of  liberty,  ” rose  up,  like  one  man, 
“invincible  by  any  force,”  who  called  them  an 
aggressive  people?  There  is  a wide  margin  be- 
tween an  unconquerable  spirit  and  a spirit  of 
conquest.  “The  vigilant,  the  active,  and  the 
brave”  are  not  on  that  account  the  warlike.  The 
unconquerable  spirit  is  the  spirit  of  peace  and  not 
of  war.  No  people  will  understand  the  distinction 
better  than  the  American. 

‘ ‘ W estward  the  course  of  Empire  holds  its  way,  ’ ’ 
has  been  true  in  one  hemisphere,  while  eastward 
has  been  the  march  of  human  mind  in  the  other, 
and  now  America  in  the  foremost  files  of  Western 
time  and  Japan  as  the  heir  of  all  the  Asian  ages, 
are  met  to  complete  the  world’s  electric  circle. 
I would  not  liken  you  to  sentinels  of  Occidental 
culture  and  ourselves  to  guards  of  Oriental  tradi- 
tions, as  do  some.  Neither  of  us  stands  on  the 
Pacific  coast  to  ward  off  the  other  from  the  treas- 
ures of  his  heritage.  Are  we  not  more  than  willing 
— even  eager — mutually  to  share  our  ancestral 
gifts? 

If  your  country  and  mine  should  come  to  a 
better  knowledge  each  of  the  other — to  a fuller 
and  deeper  understanding  of  each  other’s  mission 
and  aspirations — a long  stride  will  have  been  taken 
toward  the  general  advancement  of  human  happi- 
ness, a great  step  toward  the  fulfilment  of  the 
prophecy,  not  of  a sensational  soothsayer,  but  of  a 
great  seer  and  thinker,  who  dipped  into  the  future. 


20  XKe  Japanese  Nation 

far  as  human  eye  could  see,  and  saw  the  time 

“When  the  war  drum  throbb’d  no  longer,  and  the 
battle-flags  were  furled 

In  the  Parliament  of  man,  the  Federation  of  the 
world.” 

And  to  this  great  consummation,  devoutly  to  be 
wished  for,  it  is  a privilege  to  contribute  a widow’s 
mite. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  LAND  OR  GEOGRAPHICAL  FEATURES  IN  THEIR 
RELATION  TO  THE  INHABITANTS 


EOGRAPHICALLY  defined,  Japan  is  a series 


of  long  and  narrow  volcanic  islands  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  lying  off  the  north-eastern  coast  of 
the  Asiatic  continent  in  the  shape  of  a longitudinal 


This  simple  definition  would  require  a detailed 
explanation  were  we  to  exhaust  its  full  meaning 
— a task  for  which  we  have  now  no  space  at  com- 
mand. All  we  can  do  is  to  take  up  one  by  one  the 
salient  points  of  the  definition  and  treat  them  from 
the  standpoint  of  anthropo-geography.  In  the 
present  discourse,  I wish  to  amplify  the  follow- 
ing points:  1st,  that  Japan  is  an  island  country; 

2d,  that  it  is  volcanic;  3d,  that  it  is  narrow;  4th, 
that  it  is  long;  5th,  that  it  lies  off  the  coast  of  the 
Asiatic  continent;  6th,  that  it  lies  in  the  Pacific 
Ocean. 

I.  First  of  all,  Japan  Is  a Series  of  Islands. 

The  whole  country  consists  of  no  less  than  five 
hundred  and  eighteen  islands. 

The  question  what  dimensions  raise  a piece  of 


curve. 


21 


22  The  Japanese  Nation 

land  in  the  sea  from  a mere  rock  to  the  dignity  of 
an  island,  is  not  yet  scientifically  or  unanimously 
decided.  The  statement  is  sometimes  made  that 
the  Empire  of  Japan  consists  of  more  than  one 
million  islands,  and  the  Tribune  Almanac  for  1912 
gives  the  number  of  islands  composing  the  Empire 
as  4223,  In  our  official  returns,  however,  we 
exclude  all  those  whose  circumference  is  less  than 
one  ri  (two  and  a half  miles),  unless  inhabited  or 
unless  they  serve  as  sea-marks  of  some  importance. 

Of  these  hundreds  of  isles,  we  will  name  only 
the  most  important; 


Number  of 

Names  of  Islands  Dependencies 


Area 


Honshu 

Hokkaido 

Kyushu 

Taiwan  (Formosa) 

Shikoku 

Chishima  (31  Kurile  islands) 
Ryukyu  (55  Loochoo  islands) 
Sado 

Tsushima 

Awaji 

Oki 

Hokoto  (Pescadores) 

Iki 

Ogasawara  (20  Bonin  islands) 


166  81,843.88  sq.mi, 

13  30,299-87  “ “ 

150  15,600.54  “ “ 

7 13,851-99  “ " 

7 7,036.48  “ “ 

6,028.48  ■■  " 

935.78  “ “ 

335-73  “ “ 

5 266.53  “ “ 

I 218.67  “ “ 

I 130.46  “ “ 

12  47.62  “ “ 

I 51-43  “ “ 

26.82  “ “ 


Total  156,674.28  sq.  mi, 


If  we  exclude  from  this  list  Taiwan  or  Formosa 
and  the  Pescadores,  we  shall  have  over  142,000 
square  miles,  which  constitute  what  may  be  called 


GeograpKical  Features  of  Country  23 

Old  Japan,  or  Japan  Proper.  This  is  quite  a 
respectable  area  for  any  nation  to  possess.  We 
can  compare  favourably  with  the  United  Kingdom 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  or  with  Italy.  In 
relation  to  the  United  States,  however,  the  com- 
parison will  not  redound  to  oiu*  glory,  for  our  whole 
area  is  only  equal  in  expanse  to  the  State  of  Mon- 
tana, is  smaller  than  California  or  Texas,  and  is 
about  three  times  the  size  of  the  State  of  New 
York  or  Virginia  or  Pennsylvania. 

Owing  to  the  instdar  formation  of  the  country, 
the  coast  Une,  in  proportion  to  the  area,  is  natur- 
ally considerable,  bearing  an  average  of  one  mile 
to  every  eight  square  miles. 

The  coast  bordering  the  Pacific  Ocean,  or,  as 
we  call  it.  Outer  Japan,  is  very  much  more  diversi- 
fied than  Inner  Japan,  or  the  shores  along  the  Sea 
of  Japan ; hence  the  coast  fine  of  the  former  meas- 
ures over  10,300  miles  as  against  2800  miles  of  the 
latter.  Many  of  the  indentations  furnish  excellent 
anchorage. 

The  insrdar  nature  of  our  country  implies  that 
a large  number  of  our  population  are  bom  and 
bred  vdthin  sight  of  the  sea,  and,  thus  destined  by 
nature  to  wield  its  craft,  breathe  its  winds,  and 
fight  its  billows,  are  inured  from  infancy  to  a sea- 
faring Hfe.  There  were  times  when  our  people 
ploughed  the  Pacific  Ocean  in  their  barks  as 
traders,  adventmers,  colonists,  and  pirates,  and 
started  settlements  along  the  shores  of  Asia  or  in 
different  islands  of  the  Southern  Pacific,  wander- 


24 


The  Japanese  Nation 


ing  “on  from  island  unto  island  at  the  gateways 
of  the  day.’’  Only  by  a strong  governmental 
measure  was  this  enterprising  spirit  kept  in  abey- 
ance for  tw'o  or  three  centuries,  during  which  time 
the  insular  character  of  the  country,  far  from 
arousing  an  adventurous  spirit,  cramped  it  within 
the  precincts  of  its  native  land ; so  that  the  people, 
instead  of  looking  out  upon  the  great  waters  which 
surround  them,  turned  their  back  upon  the  sea 
and  strenuously  confined  their  attention  to  the 
little  valleys  and  restricted  plains  of  Dai-Nippon. 
Insularity  need  not  spell  narrowness  of  ideas.  It 
ought  to  mean  breadth  of  vision.  Whether  it  does 
the  one  or  the  other,  will  depend  upon  the  attitude 
which  the  people  take  in  regard  to  the  sea.  The 
Phoenicians  and  the  Jews  dwelt  side  by  side  on  the 
same  coast,  but  the  Jews  became  exclusively  a 
land  folk,  while  the  Phoenicians  filled  the  farthest 
end  of  the  then  known  sea  with  their  ships  of 
exploration  and  commerce, — truly,  as  Gibbon  says, 
“The  winds  and  waves  are  always  on  the  side  of 
the  ablest  navigators.  ’’  It  is  said  that  the  love  of 
the  sea  and  the  enjoyment  of  its  perils  are  confined 
to  people  of  the  Norse  blood,  but  a little  closer 
study  wiU  reveal  the  same  characteristic  in  the 
Malays;  and  here  I touch  upon  the  subject  of  race. 

Among  the  manifold  effects  of  insularity,  I may 
mention,  first  of  all,  the  homogeneity  of  our  people. 

In  spite  of  differences  of  blood  and  origin,  the 
races  which  in  time  past  drifted  to  our  shores — 
the  southern  peoples  from  the  tropics,  the  western 


GeograpKical  Features  of  Country  2$ 

from  the  Asiatic  continent — have  all  mixed  and 
amalgamated  on  our  soil,  and  have  been  politically 
and  socially  moulded  together  until  they  have 
formed  one  homogeneous  nation  with  one  language, 
one  tradition,  one  history,  one  literature.  The 
diverse  ancestors  of  the  constituent  races  have 
gradually  disappeared  beyond  the  veil  of  obscurity 
and  oblivion;  so  that  our  people  now  trace  their 
ancestry  to  a common  stock  and  pride  themselves 
upon  the  name  of  the  Yamato  race. 

This  uniformity  explains  the  strong  patriotic 
sentiment  which  with  us  rises  to  an  almost  re- 
ligious ardour.  It  is  also  this  same  consciousness 
which  forms  the  basis  of  our  loyalty  to  our  ruler, 
upon  whom  we  look  as  the  personal  representative 
of  that  ethnic  unity — that  strong  sense  of  solidar- 
ity which  defies  any  uninvited  intrusion  from 
without.  During  the  Russo-Japanese  War  it  was 
often  repeated  that  if  Russia  were  successful,  she 
could  never  land  her  army  on  Japanese  soil,  or,  if 
she  did,  it  would  be  after  the  land  was  entirely 
bereft  of  inhabitants;  for  to  the  last  survivor  the 
Japanese,  women  as  well  as  men,  would  fight  for 
its  defence.  Intensity  is  a characteristic  of  island 
life.  Ratzel,  in  speaking  of  “the  exclusive  person- 
ality’’ of  an  insular  people,  says  that  England 
reaches  the  maximum  intensity  of  the  civilisation 
of  her  neighbouring  continent,  and  I believe  that 
this  remark  is  no  less  applicable  to  the  only  other 
insular  nation  which  is  independent  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  term ; for  I dare  say  that  our  compact. 


26 


TKe  Japanese  Nation 


intense  nationality  is  the  product  of  the  waters 
which  surround  us. 

To  the  insularity  of  our  country,  again,  is  due 
our  freedom  from  foreign  invasions  and  foreign 
complications.  Were  it  not  for  the  sea,  we  would 
not  have  escaped  the  catastrophes  which  so  often 
befell  the  Korean  and  Chinese  Empires.  Only 
twice  in  the  history  of  twenty  centuries  have  hos- 
tile demonstrations  taken  place  near  our  shores, — 
once  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century,  when 
Kublai  Khan,  flushed  with  his  conquests  in  China, 
despatched  what  was  then  considered  an  invincible 
armada;  then,  again,  early  in  this  century,  when 
a hostile  fleet  imder  Admiral  Rozhdestvensky 
approached  our  shores.  But  in  neither  case  did 
Japan  suffer  in  honour  or  in  arms.  These  events 
only  served  to  strengthen  the  confidence  that  we 
are  “compass’d  by  the  inviolate  sea,’’  and  that 
our  shores  are  guarded  by  waves  and  winds  which 
love  our  land  no  less  than  do  our  captains  and 
sailors. 

Not  only  in  respect  to  freedom  from  foreign 
invasion,  but  in  respect  to  civil  liberty,  has  Japan 
been  fortunately  located.  It  is  true  she  did  not 
develop  that  idea  to  a degree  in  any  way  approxi- 
mating its  development  by  the  English  or  the  Swiss. 
But  compare  her  political  career  with  that  of 
China  or  India — countries  whose  examples  she 
usually  followed — and  we  cannot  help  wondering 
how  her  children  have  escaped  the  devastation  of 
tyranny  and  despotism  which  overtook  them.  If 


GeograpKical  Features  of  Country  27 

she  did  not  rise  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  neither  did 
she  sink  into  utter  thraldom  such  as  theirs.  Sing- 
ing of  Swiss  liberty,  Wordsworth  wrote: 

“Two  voices  are  there;  one  is  of  the  sea. 

One  of  mountains;  each  a mighty  voice.’' 

If  liberty  loves  the  heights  and  the  deep,  nowhere 
will  it  find  a more  congenial  home  than  in  Japan, 
which  is  only  sea  and  mountains.  It  is  worth 
noting  here  that  Japan  is  the  first  country  in  Asia 
where  parliamentary  rule,  the  surest  guarantee  of 
liberty,  has  been  adopted. 

It  is  not  only  in  respect  to  ethnic  unity  and 
solidarity,  to  loyalty,  Hberty,  and  patriotism,  that 
our  geographic  insularity  tells;  but  also  in  our 
every-day  mode  of  living.  Fishery  supplies  an  im- 
portant source  of  employment  and  of  diet.  It  fur- 
nishes yearly  an  amount  of  food  valued  at  about 
fifty  million  dollars,  and  employs  the  vast  number 
of  nearly  two  million  people.  Though  our  people 
are  practically  vegetarians,  fish  and  fowl  are 
freely  consumed.  No  less  than  four  hundred  and 
fifty  kinds  of  fish  are  caught  in  our  waters,  many 
of  which  are  edible.  I shall  not  go  into  con- 
jecture as  to  how  far  a diet  of  fish  affects  the  size 
of  our  brain!  but  it  explains  at  least  in  part  why 
stock-farming  did  not  attain  an  important  place 
in  our  economy.  Cattle  were  never  abundant, 
swine  less  so,  and  sheep  unknbwn  until  recent 
years.  It  has  been  thought  that  our  climate  does 


28 


TKe  Japanese  Nation 


not  favour  the  growth  of  grass;  but  the  dis- 
couragement given  by  Buddhism  and  Shinto  to 
the  slaughter  of  animals,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  rich  harvest  of  the  sea,  on  the  other,  were 
reasons  more  potent  than  chmate  for  our  poverty 
in  live  stock. 

Islands  naturally  possess  a maritime  chmate, 
the  distinctive  features  of  which  are  equability, 
relative  humidity,  and  great  cloudiness.  One  curi- 
ous effect  of  our  moist  atmosphere  is  the  frequent 
use  of  very  warm  baths,  which  are  taken  at  a 
temperature  as  high  as  120°  Fahrenheit.  New- 
comers to  Japan  regard  such  a practice  as  highly 
unhygienic,  but  a few  years’  residence  demonstrates 
to  them  that  the  custom  is  dictated  by  cHmatic 
demands.  Our  people  are  not  happy  unless  they 
bathe  frequently,  and  this  habit  of  daily  ablution 
is  perhaps  due  to  atmospheric  humidity. 

We  have  throughout  the  year  an  average  of  150 
days  of  snow  or  rain,  and  215  days  of  fair  weather; 
that  is,  for  every  three  days  of  rain  or  snow,  we 
have  four  fine  days.  As  to  quantity,  the  rainfall 
ranges,  according  to  locahty,  from  twenty  to  thirty 
inches  a year. 

The  best  medical  authorities  believe  that  our 
climate  is  particularly  excellent  for  children.  By 
Americans  resident  in  Japan,  its  moisture  is  felt 
to  be  rather  hard  to  bear,  and  I have  often  heard 
them  complain  of  what  they  call  “Japan  head,’’ 
by  which  they  mean  incapacity  to  work — in  fact 
a species  of  nervous  prostration,  the  same  ailment 


GeograpHical  Features  of  Country  29 

which  Germans  name  Americanitis,  but  whieh  Am- 
erican residents  prefer  to  aseribe  to  the  Japanese 
climate. 

I may  state  in  passing,  however,  that  Japan  has 
a modified  continental,  rather  than  a strictly  mari- 
time, climate;  but,  lying  in  the  monsoon  region, 
the  comparatively  regular  rains  have  made  rice- 
culture  the  basis  of  agriculture.  Though  we  can- 
not accept  Buckle’s  conclusion  in  regard  to  the 
physiological  effect  of  rice  upon  the  brain,  we  can 
believe  with  Crawfurd  that  rice-culture  and  its 
indispensable  condition,  irrigation,  exercised  a vast 
influenee  on  the  economic,  social,  and  political 
institutions  of  our  people. 

As  for  the  indirect  effect  of  the  sea  upon  nutri- 
tion, there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  it  is 
worthy  of  special  study.  According  to  the  re- 
searehes  of  Schindler,  wheat  grown  in  a maritime 
climate  contains  less  protein,  and,  to  supply  its 
deficiency,  crops  rich  in  nitrogen,  notably  legumi- 
nous plants,  are  cultivated.  This  accounts  for  the 
prominent  part  played  by  legumes  in  our  farming, 
and  for  their  abundant  use  in  our  dietary  system. 
The  soy  bean,  crushed  and  made  into  what  may 
be  called  vegetable  eheese,  or  fermented  and  made 
into  a paste,  or  simply  cooked  somewhat  like  the 
famous  baked  beans  of  New  England,  shares  with 
rice  the  honour  of  being  the  staff  of  life  among 
our  people. 

While  I am  on  the  subject  of  climate,  I may  be 
allowed  to  call  your  attention  to  a theory  lately 


30  XKe  Japanese  Nation 

advanced  by  Professor  Kullmer  of  Syracuse  and 
Professor  Huntington  of  Yale,  as  to  the  secret  of 
national  greatness.  Briefly  stated,  they  claim,  to 
use  Mr.  Huntington’s  words,  that  “mankind  is 
most  progressive  in  places  where  there  is  not  only 
a marked  difference  between  summer  and  winter, 
but  also  where  there  are  frequent  variations  from 
day  to  day.”  To  substantiate  their  theory,  the 
cyclonic  storms  of  temperate  regions  are  taken  as 
a measirre  of  atmospheric  changes,  and  they  find 
that  “the  area  included  within  the  line  of  ten 
storms,  embraces  aU  the  leading  countries  of  the 
world” — the  United  States,  Great  Britain,  France, 
the  Netherlands,  Scandinavia,  Switzerland,  Ger- 
many, Austria,  Northern  Italy,  Western  Russia — 
and,  strange  to  say,  the  only  Asiatic  country  sub- 
ject to  similar  cyclonic  storms  happens  to  be 
Japan.  Thus  anemology  serves  to  bind  where 
ethnology  attempts  to  sever.  The  world  is  an 
^olian  harp  and  nations  are  but  its  strings, 
athwart  which  the  stronger  blows  the  wind,  the 
fuller  and  finer  the  note. 

There  is  always  a strong  temptation  to  exagger- 
ate the  effect  of  geographic  environment.  Not  a 
clover  plant  blooms  but  is  held  to  sway  the  des- 
tinies of  the  British  Empire.  Not  a few  writers 
have  tried  to  explain  our  mode  of  living,  our 
mental  habits,  literature,  and  religion,  as  corollaries 
of  the  volcanic  character  of  the  country — the 
second  item  of  our  definition  of  geographical 
Japan. 


GeograpHical  Features  of  Country  31 

n.  The  Volcanic  Character  of  our  Topography. 

That  most  of  our  islands  are  volcanic  in  their 
formation  is  not  to  be  disputed.  If  Egypt  is  the 
gift  of  the  Nile,  Japan  is  the  legacy  of  primeval 
fire. 

Three  principal  volcanic  ranges,  containing 
about  two  hundred  volcanoes,  fifty  of  which  are 
active,  run  lengthwise  and  crosswise  through 
Japan.  To  the  fact  that  their  mischievous  spirits 
hold  rendezvous  in  the  proximity  of  Fuji,  we  ow’e 
the  exquisite  form  of  our  “peerless  mountain” 
and  many  an  occasion  of  terror  at  their  antics. 
Volcanoes,  both  extinct  and  active,  abounding, 
seismic  phenomena  are  frequent.  Observations 
for  the  twenty-five  years  between  1885-1909  show 
that  Japan  was  subject,  during  this  period,  to  no 
less  than  37,642  earthquakes,  not  to  take  into 
account  minor  vibrations  which  are  felt  only  by 
delicate  instruments.  This  gives  a yearly  average 
of  1506  shocks,  or  about  four  per  day.  Four 
shocks  a day  certainly  represent  an  alarmingly 
frequent  occurrence  of  the  phenomenon,  and  would 
be  unendurable  if  they  w'ere  not  seattered  over  a 
very  large  area.  Then,  too,  there  is  some  comfort 
in  the  assurance  that  minor  shocks  bind  the  strata 
by  removing  w^eaker  cleavages  and  will  thus  pre- 
vent the  occurrence  of  severer  ones.  From  records 
of  earthquakes  for  over  three  hundred  years,  one 
learns  to  expect  a shock  of  ordinary  severity  once 
in  about  thirty  months  and  a disastrous  upheaval 
once  in  a life-time. 


32 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


Any  one  the  least  familiar  with  Japanese  art 
must  have  observed  how  our  Moimt  Fuji  forms 
the  favourite  motif  for  artists,  and  a hasty  illa- 
tion is  drawn  therefrom  that  volcanoes  must  exert 
a strong  influence  upon  the  aesthetic  sense  and 
upon  art.  Our  low,  wooden  style  of  architecture 
is  generally  considered  to  be  due  to  frequent  earth- 
quakes, and  the  study  of  seismic  disturbances 
convinces  us  that  low,  w'ooden  structures  suffer 
decidedly  less  than  high,  stone  or  brick  buildings ; 
the  last  mentioned  suffering  most. 

I am  not  in  a position  to  prove  the  effect  of 
earthquakes  upon  our  fine  art;  but  that  they 
strongly  influence  our  architecture  is  so  patent 
that  it  needs  no  demonstration.  Specially  worthy 
of  mention  in  this  connection  is  the  curvature  given 
to  the  old  stone  castle  walls.  It  approximates  that 
theoretical  curve  known  in  geometry  as  the  para- 
bolic, which  gives  the  greatest  stability  against 
earthquakes,  and  which  at  the  same  time  conforms 
most  nearly  to  the  line  of  beauty.  As  another 
illustration  of  how  earthquakes  stimulate  archi- 
tectural ingenuity,  I may  mention  the  way  in  which 
the  five-storied  pagodas,  some  of  them  over  a hun- 
dred feet  high,  are  built  to  endure  the  severest 
shocks.  These  high  structures  have  never  been 
knowm  to  fall.  The  principle  on  which  they  are 
built  is  the  combination  of  an  inverted  pendulum 
with  an  ordinary  pendulum,  which  is  said  to  mini- 
mise the  effect  of  any  tremor.  The  principle  is 
embodied  in  a heavy,  massive  piece  of  timber, 


GeograpHical  Features  of  Country  33 

suspended  somewhat  freely  from  the  top  and  rest- 
ing on  a pivot  below,  so  that  in  case  the  ground 
shakes,  the  whole  structure  sways  in  such  a manner 
as  to  maintain  its  equilibrium. 

Aristotle,  in  remarking  that  insensibility  to  fear 
does  not  necessarily  argue  true  courage,  gives 
earthquakes  and  waves  as  instances  of  forces  which 
man  may  fear  without  losing  self-respect.  The 
Semites  looked  with  pious  awe  and  dread  upon 
the  earthquake  as  theophany,  and  in  their  lan- 
guage the  term  for  it,  ra'ash,  was  poetically  em- 
ployed for  the  harmonious  choral  song  of  angels. 
We,  too,  do  not  omit  earthquakes  from  the  list 
of  things  to  fear,  among  which  the  vulgar  populace 
count  three  others — the  thunderbolt,  conflagration, 
and,  last  but  not  least,  daddy’s  frown!  It  is 
curious  that  the  external  attitude,  if  I may  so  say, 
of  the  popular  mind,  in  regard  to  this  really  terror- 
inspiring  convulsion,  is  of  a humorous  nature.  Is 
the  underlying  idea  that  of  defying  the  power 
of  the  alarming  phenomenon?  Or  is  it  because, 
being  too  awful  to  think  of,  human  understanding, 
like  Hamlet  in  the  presence  of  a ghost,  revolts 
against  its  own  weakness  and  pelts  impotent  jeers 
at  it?  The  very  origin  of  earthquakes  is  ascribed 
rather  jocosely  to  the  movement  of  a huge,  phleg- 
matic cat-flsh,  namazu,  living  in  mud  beneath  the 
crust  of  the  earth.  When  its  barbels  twitch, 
seismology  makes  record  of  fresh  shocks;  but 
should  the  hideous  monster  feel  inclined  to  raise 
its  broad,  glum  head  in  its  dozing  on  the  muddy 


3 


1 


34  The  Japanese  Nation 

bottom,  then  woe  to  civilisation  and  all  its  achieve- 
ments! Nobody  takes  this  creature  seriously.  ! 

When  it  is  mentioned,  it  is  always  in  a humorous  I 

vein.  Among  the  eighty  myriad  gods  of  the  Shinto 
pantheon,  there  is  only  one  solitary  mention  of  a 
god  of  earthquakes,  and  he  has  no  homage  paid 
him  such  as  Poseidon,  the  Earth-Shaker,  enjoyed 
at  the  hands  of  the  Hellenes.  Then  among  hun- 
dreds of  nature-myths,  to  which  one  listens  with 
more  or  less  religious  reverence,  one  looks  in  vain 
for  the  story  of  an  earth-shaker. 

So,  of  the  mental  influence  of  telluric  outbursts 
we  can  say  little  that  is  definite,  and  as  far  as  their 
physical  effects  are  concerned,  it  is  doubtful  that 
the  ozone  produced  could  furnish  material  for 
nitrogenous  fertilisear  in  any  appreciable  quantity. 
Equally  doubtful  is  the  production  by  earthquakes 
of  enough  ozone  to  show  a stimulating  effect  on 
man  or  beast. 

As  a permanent  compensation  for  the  disquiet- 
ing earthquake,  terrestrial  fire  has  studded  the 
country  with  some  four  himdred  and  thirty  min- 
eral springs,  hot  and  cold,  and  of  diverse  medicinal  | 
virtues.  t 

Our  mountains,  not  necessarily  of  igneous  origin  \ 
but  as  a matter  of  fact  largely  so,  in  conjunction 
with  the  damp  climate,  give  rise  to  many  cascades 
and  cataracts,  which  are  valuable  assets  in  the 
production  of  water  and  electric  power.  The 
wealth  of  picturesque  scenery  is  the  price  Vulcan 
pays  for  his  sports. 


GeograpHical  Features  of  Country  35 

There  is  a certain  feature  of  the  volcanic  forma- 
' tion  of  our  islands  which  has  a far-reaching  and 
dire  economic  effect.  I mean  the  comparatively 
small  extent  of  land  fit  for  tillage.  Under  the 
! present  mode  of  husbandry,  it  is  generally  ad- 
mitted that  the  use  of  the  plough  or  of  the  spade 
i is  economically  possible  on  fairly  level  plains,  but 
I where  farms  have  a slope  exceeding  fifteen  degrees, 
cultivation  does  not  repay  the  toil  of  the  peasant. 

I It  is  estimated  that  in  Japan  tillable  plains  amount 
: only  to  26]/z  per  cent,  of  the  whole  area,  and  even 

I these  do  not  exist  in  large  complexes,  being  scat- 
; tered  here  and  there  in  small  bits,  sometimes  along 
river-courses  and  sometimes  among  the  mountains. 
Out  of  this  limited  level  area,  a moiety  only  is 
j under  actual  cultivation.  In  other  words,  the 
I arable  land  of  Japan  forms  only  14.6  per  cent,  of 
I the  entire  extent  of  her  territory — a remarkably 
j small  proportion,  when  we  remember  that  fifty 
million  souls  find  their  subsistence  here. 

, Owing,  too,  to  rugged  topography  and  to  the 
absence  of  extensive  plains,  large  cities  have  not 
developed  in  any  number.  Tokyo,  situated  in  the 
most  extensive  plain — that  of  Musashi — is  at 
I present  a city  of  some  two  million  inhabitants, 

I the  size  of  Chicago — and  is  still  steadily  growdng, 

I as  a result  of  which  the  value  of  land  increases  at 
, the  rate  of  ten  per  cent,  a year.  Osaka,  being  a har- 

bour and  located  in  the  basin  of  the  Yodo  River, 

' has  now  a population  approaching  one  million,  and 
Nagoya  (300,000)  is  fast  outgrowing  the  ancient 


36 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


capital  of  Kyoto  (400,000).  Not  for  geographical 
but  for  economic  reasons,  as  in  the  rest  of  the  world, 
our  larger  cities  are  developing  at  the  expense  of 
the  country — so  much  so  that  some  provinces  are 
suffering  from  the  increase  of  “abandoned  farms.” 

The  smallness  of  the  arable  area  will  be  made 
clearer  by  considering  the  third  item  in  our  defini- 
tion ; — namely,  the  narrowness  of  the  country. 

III.  The  Width  of  the  Country.  If  we  include 
recent  territorial  acquisitions,  the  Japanese  Empire 
extends  in  length  from  the  middle  of  Saghalien 
(50°  N.  Lat.)  to  the  southern  extremity  of  Formosa 
(21°  45'  N.  Lat.),  covering  about  twenty-eight 
degrees  of  latitude — equal  to  the  distance  from 
the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence  or  the  Islands  of 
Vancouver,  as  far  south  as  Cuba  or  the  southern- 
most promontory  of  Lower  California.  The  width, 
on  the  contrary,  is  quite  out  of  proportion  to  the 
length,  being  in  many  places  no  more  than  fifty 
miles,  as  the  crow  flies,  and  in  no  place  exceeding 
two  hundred  miles.  Still,  having  a long  chain  of 
mountains  running  like  a rib  through  its  central 
part,  the  country  is  well-nigh  impassable  from  the 
eastern  to  the  western  coast,  except  by  a few 
narrow  valleys.  A curious  economic  effect  of  this 
topographical  formation  is  the  nationalisation  of 
railways;  for,  as  the  railroads  must  run  through 
mountains  and  along  precipitous  valleys — much 
of  the  way  across  ravines  and  torrents — the  cost 
of  construction  is  very  great,  and  even  after  con- 


GeograpHical  Features  of  Country  37 

struction,  the  frequent  rains,  with  their  consequent 
floods  and  washouts  and  landslides,  necessitate 
continual  outlay  for  the  maintenance  of  the  lines. 

These  considerations,  especially  the  narrowness 
of  many  valleys,  forbid  the  building  of  more  than 
one  good  trunk  line.  As  long  as  there  is  to  be  but 
one  line,  is  it  not  wiser  for  the  government  to 
possess  and  control  it  than  that  such  far-reaching 
public  service  be  left  to  the  monopoly  of  a private 
company? 

Though  the  country  has  not  great  width,  the 
eastern  and  western  sides  offer  many  points  of  dif- 
ference. The  western  shores  are  washed  by  heavy 
seas,  being  exposed  to  the  strong  and  cold  north- 
westerly winds  coming  from  the  Siberian  plains. 
Outer  Japan  is  milder  in  climate,  owing  to  the 
Black  Current ; it  has  more  bright  days ; it  abounds 
in  gulfs  and  bays,  harbours  and  ports.  We  may  say 
that  Japan  faces  the  Paciflc  and  turns  her  back 
upon  the  sea  which  separates  her  from  China,  and 
the  social  and  political  import  of  this  simple  fact 
may  be  inferred  by  comparing  it  with  Italy,  where 
harbours  of  any  consequence  are  all  located  on  the 
western  coast ; or  with  Greece,  which  turns  its  face 
towards  Asia  Minor. 

Since  the  islands  are  narrow  and  mountain 
ranges  divide  them  lengthwise,  the  rivers  are  inevi- 
tably short  and  rapid.  There  are  only  fifteen 
rivers  more  than  a hundred  miles  long,  and  only 
three  of  these  boast  double  that  length.  Under 
drier  skies  our  streams  would  be  insignificant ; but 


38 


TKe  Japanese  Nation 


the  general  atmospheric  humidity  of  our  climate 
and  our  two  rainy  seasons  keep  them  supplied  at 
all  times  with  water,  which  is,  however,  liberally 
drawn  off  for  purposes  of  irrigation,  thus  rendering 
the  main  current  less  serviceable  than  ever  for 
navigation.  On  accoimt  of  reckless  denudation 
of  wooded  area,  every  rain  washes  sand  and  gravel 
down  the  naked  slopes  of  the  hills,  filling  the  river- 
beds with  silt  and  working  havoc  upon  the  sur- 
rounding regions.  But  I must  add,  to  redeem  the 
reputation  of  our  rivers,  that  many  of  them  afford 
an  excellent  somce  of  hydro-electric  power. 

rv.  The  Length  of  the  Empire.  I have  thus 
far  dwelt  exclusively  on  the  narrowness  of  the 
country.  In  considering  the  length,  however, 
special  attention  must  be  paid  to  the  fourth  item — 
that  the  islands  lie  obliquely  wdthin  twenty-eight 
degrees  of  latitude.  This  fact  allows  a wide  range 
of  temperature  and  a great  variety  of  vegetation, 
and  finally — variation  in  the  character  and  tem- 
perament of  the  inhabitants.  The  temperature 
of  Tokyo  may  be  taken  as  an  average  of  that  of 
the  whole  coimtry.  The  mean  temperature  for 
twenty  years  shows  36.7°  Fahrenheit  in  January, 
and  78°  in  August,  the  average  for  the  w’hole  year 
being  nearly  57°.  In  Tokyo  snow  falls  three  or 
four  times  during  the  winter,  sometimes  to  a depth 
of  several  inches.  In  the  northern  island  of  Hok- 
kaido, we  have  snow  from  the  end  of  November 
to  the  beginning  of  April,  and  there  the  tempera- 


j GeograpKical  Features  of  Country  39 

ture  falls  lo,  20,  and  even  30  degrees  below  zero. 

To  Japan’s  humidity  and  its  prevailing  winds, 
we  have  incidentally  referred.  All  these  factors 
combined  explain  in  part  the  wealth  of  our  flora, 

I which  Savatier  in  his  Enumeratio  gives  as  2750 
species  of  plants  indigenous  to  Japan, 
i Each  month  of  the  year  has  its  favourite  flower, 
i January  has  its  pine,  the  symbol  of  evergreen  old 
age,  which,  with  the  bamboo  and  the  plum,  form 
: in  our  language  of  flowers  a triad  used  on  all  pro- 

pitious occasions.  February  has  its  plum,  the 
ume — botanically  different  from  your  plum — 
which  is  the  first  tree  to  bloom  in  the  spring, 
unfolding  its  pink,  white,  or  yellow  buds  while  the 
snow  still  continues  to  fall.  Under  such  adverse 
circumstances  does  it  bloom,  that  the  plum  has 
won  a reputation  for  courage  among  flowers,  and 
when  you  see  its  pink  blossoms  covered  with  snow- 
flakes,  its  delicate  perfume  lending  further  charm 
to  the  song  of  the  warbler  which  delights  to  make 
I its  abode  among  its  branches,  you  will  not  wonder 
[i  at  our  infatuation  over  it.  The  fruit  of  the  umc 
I has  an  economic  value,  for  it  is  not  only  edible  in 
itself,  but  makes  the  juice  with  which  our  best 
I silk  is  dyed  red.  The  plum  is  succeeded  in  March 
by  the  peach,  a flower  that  typifies  beauty,  and, 

I like  beauty,  quickly  fades  to  give  place  to  another 
no  less  ephemeral  but  the  most  exquisite  of  all — the 
cherry.  April  is  sacred  to  the  sakura,  the  cherry, 

I the  most  popular  child  of  aU  our  floral  world.  It 
I is  cultivated  not  for  its  fruit,  nor  for  its  wood,  but 


40  XHe  Japanese  Nation 

for  its  flowers,  that  bloom  for  half  a week,  and  if  a 
more  material  motive  for  its  cultivation  is  looked 
for,  it  lies  in  the  use  of  the  flower  as  a dainty- 
beverage  when  pickled  in  salt  and  steeped  in  hot 
water.  Thus  we  quaff  this  vernal  essence  of  our 
clime  in  as  literal  a sense  as  we  inhale  its  breath. 
No  wonder  we  look  upon  it  as  the  national  flower, 
embodying  the  spirit  of  the  race,  as  an  old  poet 
has  siing, — 

“Should  strangers  ask  what  the  spirit  of  Yamato  is, 
Point  to  the  cherry  blowing  fragrant  in  the  morning 
sun.’’ 

But  the  short-lived  cherry  is  succeeded  in  J^Iay 
by  the  Wistaria,  which  was  introduced  into  this 
country  by  Dr.  Wistar;  hence  the  name.  This 
is  followed  in  June  by  the  iris,  and  as  the  heat  of 
summer  rises  in  July,  the  morning-glory  refreshes 
our  eyes  with  its  many  tints,  and  while  it  is  still 
at  the  height  of  its  glory,  the  lotus,  dear  to  the 
religion  of  Buddha  as  lilies  are  to  Christians,  takes 
up  its  turn  in  August.  The  lotus,  of  various 
dainty  hues,  grows  in  water;  and  many  a lover  of 
flowers  leaves  his  bed  before  dawn  to  hasten  to  a 
pond  that  he  may  hear  the  bursting  of  its  buds. 
The  lotus  adds  to  its  spiritual  meaning  a tangible 
quality;  for  its  seeds  are  edible  and  its  long  rhi- 
zomes are  used  as  a vegetable.  When  the  summer 
heat  is  gone,  and  with  September  the  thermometer 
begins  to  take  a downward  course,  the  so-called 


GeograpKical  Features  of  Country'  41 

"seven  plants  of  autumn”  (including  the  graceful 
Eulalia,  the  chaste  Campanella,  the  rough-leaved 
Patrinia,  which  we  call  the  maiden-flower,  etc.) 
gladden  the  hearts  which  are  sobered  by  the  fall 
of  leaves  and  mellowed  by  the  saddening  moon, 
which  shines  particularly  clear  in  the  drier  autumn 
nights.  When  these  rather  delicate  and  tender 
plants  begin  to  fade  one  by  one  in  quick  succes- 
sion, robbing  the  wayside  of  its  glowing  tints, 
then  in  the  month  of  October  bloom  in  luxuriance 
chiy'santhemums  of  every  imaginable  hue.  Ama- 
teurs and  professionals  then  vie  with  each  other 
in  exhibiting  their  best  plants,  and  the  Emperor 
opens  his  garden  to  his  invited  guests  to  show  the 
chrysanthemum — this  flower,  painted  with  sixteen 
petals,  being  the  crest  of  his  family.  The  chrys- 
anthemum has  long  outgrown  its  Greek  etymon — 
the  blossom  of  gold.  It  boasts  of  innumerable 
shades  of  colour,  and  gives  promise  through  its 
fecund  power  to  produce  newer  varieties.  You 
certainly  have  worked  marvels  in  the  chrysanthe- 
mum in  this  country ; but  I wonder  if  you  raise  two 
or  three  edible  varieties  of  this  plant,  using,  as  we 
do,  the  petals  for  salad  and  the  leaves  as  well  as 
the  flowers  for  fritters.  But  I have  no  time  now 
to  linger  in  the  kitchen;  for,  when  November 
comes  with  its  bright  sunshine,  it  is  time  for  every 
lover  of  nature  to  sally  forth  among  hills  and  dales 
‘ ‘ a-maple-hunting,  ’ ’ as  we  call  it.  As  in  the  spring 
multitudes  wend  their  way  to  certain  localities 
famed  for  the  sakura,  so  now  they  make  their  excur- 


42 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


sion  to  feast  their  eyes  upon  the  brocade  of  foliage. 
Japan,  I understand,  is  richest  in  varieties  of 
maple,  but  when  the  branches  are  shorn  of  their 
gorgeous  drapery  by  the  chilly  breeze  of  December, 
this  month  makes  compensation  by  bringing 
among  the  deep  verdure  of  the  camellia  a profuse 
display  of  colours — white,  scarlet,  pink,  and  red, 

I have  loitered  too  long — a whole  year — ^among 
the  flowers  of  my  land,  but  will  now  retrace  my 
steps  to  take  up  a more  serious  discussion  of  the 
fifth  item  of  my  definition,  w'hich  refers  to  the 
fact  that  Japan  lies  off  the  coast  of  China,  at 
considerable  distance  from  the  rest  of  the  world, 

V.  Japan’s  Location  off  the  Asiatic  Coast.  This 
distance  from  the  continent  as  well  as  from  the 
southern  seas  is  not  too  great  for  a daring  people 
to  cross,  but  it  was  too  far  to  enable  large  niunbers 
to  make  an  expedition  with  w^eapons  and  provi- 
sions in  days  when  steam  w’as  tmknown.  Hence, 
peaceful  immigrants  came  from  time  to  time  to 
settle  here,  to  merge  with  those  who  had  occupied 
the  land  before  them,  w’hile  invading  troops  could 
not  make  inroads  upon  these  shores. 

Being  located  where  they  are,  the  Japanese 
islands  are  farthest  removed  from  the  centre  or 
centres  of  w’orld  politics, — from  European  capitals 
or  from  the  Atlantic  coast  of  this  continent.  It  is 
over  seven  thousand  miles  from  New  York  to  Yoko- 
hama. It  has  become  a fashion  in  these  latter 
days  to  speak  rather  disrespectfully  of  distance,  as 


GeograpKical  Features  of  Country  43 

though  electricity  and  steam  have  practically 
annihilated  it.  We  brag  of  the  recent  achieve- 
ment, whereby  a wireless  message  was  sent  and 
received  across  the  Pacific  Ocean.  This  is  all  very 
remarkable  and  we  are  justified  in  congratulating 
ourselves,  but  the  element  of  space  exists  just 
the  same,  the  actual  distance  not  shrinking  a mile 
or  an  inch.  It  is  as  impossible  to  subtract  a 
cubit  from  space  as  it  is  to  add  it  to  our  stature. 

To  the  artistic,  distance  may  serve  the  purpose 
of  lending  enchantment  to  the  view,  but  for  more 
utilitarian  purjDoses,  it  is  too  real  an  element 
to  be  lightly  trifled  with.  As  applied  to  our 
case,  this  distance  brought  in  its  train  at  least 
two  important  psychological  consequences,  viz.; 
the  sense  of  isolation  and  of  discontinuity.  In 
spite  of  all  the  recent  improvements  in  transporta- 
tion, it  is  still  no  easy  undertaking,  financially  or 
physically,  for  most  people  to  go  back  and  forth 
across  a space  “where  half  the  convex  world 
intrudes  between.”  Such  remoteness  is  enough 
to  create  apartness  or  to  estrange  sympathy. 
Hence  Japan  has  to  bear  the  disadvantage  of  a 
certain  degree  of  isolation,  until  the  centres  of  the 
world  are  moved  elsewhere  or  until  easier  means 
of  transportation  come  in  vogue. 

Then,  too,  the  sense  of  discontinuity  engendered 
by  the  presence  of  vast  deserts,  lofty  mountain 
chains,  and  unfathomed  ocean,  gives  one  an  impres- 
sion that  there  must  be  a wide  and  deep  chasm 
that  cannot  be  bridged  over  between  the  mental 


44  XHe  Japanese  Nation 

habits  and  moral  notions  of  the  denizens  of  the 
antipodes. 

In  connection  with  the  distance  factor,  I may 
here  refer  to  an  idea  advanced  by  Professor  Davis 
of  Harvard,  who  in  speaking  of  a remote  colony, 
says  that  the  most  enterprising  and  aggressive 
new-comers  press  to  the  frontier  where  gentleness, 
considerateness,  forbearance  in  their  dealings  with 
others,  especially  with  inferiors,  are  less  common 
on  the  part  of  the  invaders  than  the  contrasted 
qualities  of  roughness,  dominance,  and  intolerance. 
The  hasty  acts  of  the  isolated  frontiersman  are 
seldom  restrained  by  a tempered  public  sentiment 
in  favom*  of  patience  and  conciliation,  for  at  the 
outposts  of  civilisation  there  is  no  public  to  have 
a sentiment.  In  the  case  of  the  United  States, 
California  being  on  its  frontier,  that  State  has 
once  or  twice  given  an  illustration  of  this  effect  of 
the  distance  factor  in  its  attitude  toward  Japanese 
immigration.  That  brilliant  French  writer,  IMau- 
rice  Leblanc,  has  recently  shown  in  the  form  of  a 
novel.  The  Frontier,  how  trivial  deeds  of  unfriend- 
liness, when  enacted  near  national  boundaries, 
may  assume  a gigantic  magnitude. 

Now,  let  me  proceed  to  my  sixth  and  last  article 
of  definition. 

VI.  Japan’s  Position  in  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Japan  lies  in  the  Pacific,  with  her  face  toward  the 
morning  sun  and  her  gates  open  to  the  east.  Before 
her  spreads  the  illimitable  expanse  of  the  Pacific, 


GeograpHical  Features  of  Country  45 

where  the  bravest  of  folks,  nurtured  in  the  salt  air 
and  in  the  daring  crafts  of  the  sea,  can  find  ample 
space  for  action.  They  can  ride  on  the  wings  of 
the  storm  or  plunge  into  the  billows  for  the  treas- 
ures of  the  deep,  realising  here  the  widest  scope  of 
action,  fulfilling  their  highest  calling  and  prepared 
for  whatever  awaits  them.  Here  will  be  solved 
many  a world  problem  that  has  puzzled  philos- 
ophers and  perplexed  statesmen.  We  believe 
that  it  w'ill  be  in  the  island  realm  of  ours,  lying 
between  the  two  continents,  that  the  world’s 
contradictions  will  be  solved. 

Japan  is  aware  that  her  mission  is  to  mediate 
between  the  old  and  the  new  civilisations.  We 
believe  that  it  is  in  us  and  through  us  that  the 
East  and  the  West  should  meet.  Our  history  of 
the  last  fifty  years  is  a proof  of  our  assertion. 

On  the  Asiatic  continent  there  are  crude  mani- 
festations of  impatience  of  European  control;  of 
fear  and  hatred  of  the  White  Peril.  There  are 
also  evidences  of  the  awakening  of  self-conscious- 
ness; of  a feeling  that  an  organised  Asia  can  turn 
back  the  flood  of  European  aggression.  For  all 
these  recent  signs  of  an  inimical  attitude  that 
the  East  takes  towards  the  West,  Japan  is  held 
directly  or  indirectly  responsible.  She  is  in  the 
exceedingly  delicate  and  unenviable  position  of  a 
scapegoat  for  the  whole  of  Asia.  If  a white 
power  snatches  a piece  of  property  on  the  conti- 
nent, be  it  in  China,  India,  Siam,  or  Persia,  and 
the  victim  raises  a hue  and  cry,  Japan  is  suspected 


46 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


of  supplying  the  air  to  his  windpipe!  But  he 
reads  these  signs  of  the  times  amiss  who  sees 
bloody  conflicts  as  their  final  and  inevitable  issues. 
Japan  feels  it  her  own  responsibility  to  set  the 
world’s  ideas  right  on  this  momentous  point.  She 
interprets  her  geographical  position  not  in  a nega- 
tive, hostile  spirit;  but  in  a positive,  friendly 
attitude  of  service  to  mankind,  by  bringing  to- 
gether nations  that  have  long  trodden  different 
ways  and  establishing  between  them  bonds  of 
mutual  understanding,  miity,  and  respect. 

The  meaning  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  seems  to  have 
dawned  with  sudden  luminosity  upon  the  eyes  of 
the  Occident.  Twenty  years  ago,  a British  states- 
man of  first  rank  could  hardly  be  induced  to  annex 
part  of  an  island  near  Australia;  but  now,  were 
there  discovered  a fragment  of  a coral  reef  in  the 
remotest  part  of  this  ocean,  the  great  powers 
would  rush  with  their  gim-boats  to  plant  their 
flag.  Spain  and  Portugal  have  practically  receded 
from  the  stage  where  they  played  their  best  and 
their  worst,  and  in  their  stead  Russia  and  America 
have  made  their  appearance.  Holland  and  Eng- 
land still  maintain  their  prestige,  and  France  and 
Germany  are  ambitious  to  have  their  share  in  the 
interests  of  the  Pacific.  To  China  and  Japan  this 
ocean  presents  a question  of  life  and  death.  Wflien 
we  remember  that  in  the  Asiatic  countries  border- 
ing it,  swarms  of  mankind  numbering  some  six 
hundred  million  souls,  or  one-third  of  the  whole 
human  family,  live  and  have  their  being,  it  is 


GeograpHical  Features  of  Country  47 

no  wonder  that  the  world’s  chief  interest  during 
the  twentieth  century  will  be  centred  here.  Should 
concerns  of  such  magnitude  be  decided  by  one  or 
tw’o  powers  for  their  selfish  ends?  Whatever  sus- 
picion other  nations  may  maintain,  it  is  not  the 
ambition  of  Japan  to  control  all  these  vast  masses 
of  humanity  or  to  make  the  Pacific  Ocean  her  lake. 
As  to  a breach  between  America  and  Japan,  that 
mighty  sea  may  well  rest  peacefully  true  to  its 
name.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that,  while  some 
people  on  this  side  of  the  Pacific  speak  of  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Panama  Canal  as  a signal  for  the 
outbreak  of  war,  the  Japanese  are  looking  forward 
to  it  with  utmost  complacency  and  the  hope  of 
increased  trade. 

When  the  Suez  Canal  was  about  to  be  opened, 
many  anticipated  the  event  with  consternation — 
among  them  no  less  a statesman  than  Sir  Robert 
Peel, — fearing  that  the  new  waterway  might  serve 
the  purposes  of  war  rather  than  those  of  peace; 
but  with  us  who  have  seen  the  working  of  this 
canal,  should  there  not  be  a rational  belief  that 
its  history  may  be  repeated  in  that  of  Panama, 
and  that  through  this  great  new  artery  will  throb 
the  life  blood  of  the  East  and  the  West  in  ever 
swelling  and  rhythmic  pulsations  of  vigour  and 
health? 


CHAPTER  III 


THE  PAST  IN  ITS  SIGNIFICANCE  TO  THE  PRESENT 

IN  compressing  into  the  space  of  a few  pages  the 
history  of  Japan,  which  covers  a period  of 
twenty  centuries,  I shall  try  to  make  you  ac- 
quainted with  those  larger  landmarks  in  the 
genetic  development  of  my  people  which  may  be 
of  general  interest  to  students  of  Culturgeschichte. 
Though  I shall  try  to  be  chronological  in  my  pre- 
sentation, I despair  of  any  narration  of  concrete 
events  in  successive  order.  I shall  endeavour  to 
make  a continuous  story  of  our  political  and  social 
evolution,  but  I shall  not  afflict  you  with  long, 
outlandish  names,  however  great  and  glorious 
they  may  sound  in  our  own  ears,  unless  they 
stand  for  something  that  is  still  concerned  with 
living  issues.  I may  have  to  recoimt  some  anec- 
dotes which,  trifling  in  themselves,  typify  the 
spirit  of  an  age.  My  idea  is  to  cast  a cursory 
glance  at  the  past  in  its  vital  relations  with  the 
present,  and  with  this  end  in  view  I must  beg  of 
my  audience  to  borrow  the  hat  of  Fortimatus,  or 
the  more  fashionable  cap  of  Monsieur  Maeter- 
linck’s Tyltyl  and  turn  its  diamond,  so  that  time 

48 


Significance  of  Past  and  Present  49 

and  space  may  be  shortened  at  our  discretion. 
Only,  I shall  ask  you  not  to  turn  it  too  far,  for  then 
there  will  be  nothing  left  for  me  to  say. 

Our  history  may  be  roughly  divided  into  five 
periods,  namely: 

1.  The  Ancient — (including  the  legendary  age, 
which  is  strictly  pre-historic)  from  the  founding  of 
the  Empire  down  to  the  middle  of  the  seventh 
century,  and  including  the  introduction  of  Bud- 
dhism. 

2.  The  Early  IMediaeval — beginning  with  the 
radical  political  reforms  of  the  seventh  century 
and  ending  with  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century, 
covering  epochs  specially  important  in  the  history 
of  art. 

3.  The  Late  Mediaeval — beginning  with  the 
rise  of  the  military  clans  at  the  end  of  the  twelfth 
century  and  concluding  with  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury— an  essentially  heroic  age  imder  militant 
feudalism. 

4.  The  Modem — which  was  the  age  of  the 
Tokugawa  Shogun,  characterised  by  peaceful 
feudalism  and  by  encouragement  of  art  and 
learning. 

5.  The  Present — beginning  with  the  coronation 
of  the  present  Emperor  in  1868  and  covering  the 
period  of  occidentalisation. 

I.  The  history  of  Japan,  like  the  history  of 
every  people,  has,  before  daylight  clearness,  its  age 
of  dusky  twilight,  when  all  its  forms  are  obscure. 
This  is  the  age  of  myths,  of  the  legends  of  deities. 


50  THe  Japanese  Nation 

and  of  the  achievements  of  demi-gods,  whose 
actions  are  not  to  be  reckoned  by  a mortal’s 
standard  of  time  or  space.  Disjointed  narratives 
of  exceedingly  commonplace  personages,  anecdotes 
of  heroic  deeds,  tales  of  impossible  characters 
— in  some  particulars  too  accurate  and  revolt- 
ingly  realistic — fill  the  first  few  pages  of  our  annals. 
Animistic  stories  that  would  rejoice  the  heart  of  a 
child  or  that  may  complement  the  Metamorphosis 
of  Ovid,  are  told  in  our  book  of  Genesis.  The 
beings  of  this  dusky  period  furnish  no  end  of 
material  whereby  the  fanciful  may  work  out 
theories  in  anthropology,  sociology,  and  folk-lore. 

The  account  of  this  early  age  has  been  handed 
down  as  oral  tradition  in  more  or  less  metrical 
relation,  and  was  first  put  into  writing  under  the 
title  of  Kojiki  {Records  of  Ancient  Things),  in  the 
early  part  of  the  eighth  century.  The  work 
of  compilation  was  an  intellectual  feat  of  an  ex- 
traordinary character,  because  the  compiler 
had  to  use  Chinese  letters  or  ideographs  to  con- 
vey the  sound  of  the  Japanese  language.  This 
feat  has  been  aptly  compared  by  Captain  Brinck- 
ley  to  the  task  of  a man  who  has  set  himself  to 
commit  Shakespeare’s  plays  to  writing  by  the  aid 
of  the  cuneiform  characters  of  Babylon. 

Within  a decade  of  this  compilation,  another 
was  tmdertaken  and  called  Nihongi  {Chronicles  of 
Japan),  and  this  was  written  in  genuine  Chinese 
style.  These  two  w’orks,  together  with  a third 
Koga-Shu  {Ancient  Records),  of  much  lesser  re- 


Sig'nificance  of  Past  and  Present  51 

nown,  form  our  earliest  historical  documents. 
The  narrators  never  claimed  Divine  inspiration, 
plenary  or  otherwise,  when  they  recounted  the 
story  of  creation ; — how  the  Creator  and  the  Creat- 
rix,  Isanagi  and  Isanami,  (or  in  English  translation 
the  Male-that-invites  and  the  Female-that-invites) 
met  on  the  Floating  Bridge  of  Heaven; — how 
when  they  thrust  the  gem-headed  spear  into  the 
abyss  of  the  sea  and  took  it  out,  the  drops  which 
fell  from  its  point  congealed  and  formed  the  first 
of  our  islands.  The  historiographer  continues  to 
relate  the  birth  of  other  islands,  of  the  children 
bom  of  the  twin  deities,  and  a long  tale  is  told  of 
the  Sun-goddess,  the  chief  of  the  native  pantheon. 
Whether  she  w^as  a real  being  of  flesh  and  blood, 
or  whether  she  was  an  embodiment  of  a solar  myth 
or  whether  she  was  symbolic  of  a benignant  and 
light-bringing  government ; whether  the  dominion 
over  which  she  ruled  was  an  actual  geographical 
locality  or  whether  it  was  an  aerial  region,  science 
has  not  decided  any  more  definitely  than  it  has 
some  other  questions — such  as,  whether  the  so- 
called  deities,  the  culture  heroes,  were  colonists, 
some  from  the  continent  and  others  from  the 
Southern  isles,  or  whether  they  were  representa- 
tions of  earthly  and  heavenly  powers,  or  whether 
the  gem-pointed  spear  was  the  javelin  of  a primi- 
tive folk,  or  whether  it  meant,  as  Dr.  Warren 
in  his  Paradise  Foimd  suggests,  the  axis  of  the 
earth;  whether  the  so-called  Floating  Bridge  of 
Heaven  was  a canoe  in  which  the  daring  couple 


52 


XHe  Japanese  Nation 


found  their  way  to  Japan,  or  whether  it  implied  a 
grander  conception  which  connects  this  little 
planet  of  ours  with  the  heavenly  bodies  above; 
— these  queries  and  others,  yes,  even  the  form  of 
the  Sun-goddess  herself,  we  leave  behind  in  the 
shade  for  Imagination  and  Science  to  decipher, 
while  we  now  move  forward  to  the  time  when 
the  crepuscular  dawn  brightens  into  daylight,  and 
when  we  can  discern  figures  somewhat  more 
plainly. 

Before  proceeding  further,  I may  intercalate 
a remark  or  two  on  the  subject  of  the  name  of 
our  country.  The  land  now  called  Japan  was 
in  its  earliest,  legendary  days,  called  by  a long 
poetical  name,  “The  Country  in  the  Midst  of 
Luxuriant  Reed-Plains,”  owing  perhaps  to  the 
prevalence  of  marshes.  After  its  conquest  by 
Jimmu,  the  appellation  “Yamato”  (Mountain 
Portal?)  was  used  to  designate  the  cotmtry  under 
his  sway.  In  the  Middle  Ages,  in  official  corre- 
spondence with  China,  the  name  “ Hi-no-moto,  ” 
“The  Source  of  the  Sim,”  was  adopted.  At  one 
time  “East”  was  used  as  against  “West,”  by 
which  China  was  meant ; but  the  poetical  designa- 
tion, “The  Land  of  the  Rising  Sun,”  best  de- 
scribes its  location.  The  Chinese  characters  which 
were  used  in  spelling  Hi-no-moto  gradually  came, 
for  brevity’s  sake,  to  be  pronounced — d la  chinois — 
N ippon.  The  later  Chinese  pronunciation  of  these 
characters  was  perverted  by  Marco  Polo,  who 
spelled  it  Jipangu,  from  which  all  the  European 


Significance  of  Past  and  Present  53 

names  for  Nippon  are  derived.  This  sinified 
form  certainly  is  a time-saving  improvement  upon 
the  first  august  title — “Toyo  ashi  hara  no  Na- 
katsu  K\mi ! ” But  from  the  marshland — revenons 
d nos  moutons! 

The  fantastic  episodes  to  which  I have  only 
slightly  alluded  by  way  of  suggestion,  have  for 
their  backgrotmd  the  province  of  Izumo,  which  is 
situated  on  the  south-western  coast  of  Japan, 
just  opposite  the  coast  of  Korea,  and  the  legends 
may  well  be  of  Korean  origin,  preserved  by  the 
first  settlers  in  Japan.  As  history  begins  to  be  less 
mythical,  the  scene  shifts  from  that  part  of  the 
main  island  to  the  southern  part  of  Kyushu, 
where  we  meet  a people  claiming  descent  from  the 
Sun-goddess  rising  to  prominence.  It  is  not  un- 
reasonable to  conjecture  that  they  were  a band 
of  immigrants  of  Malay  blood  from  the  southern 
islands. 

In  its  advance  eastward  and  northward,  and  in 
the  course  of  fifteen  years  of  fighting,  this  brave 
band  brought  the  different  tribes  along  its  route 
under  one  government,  at  the  head  of  which 
appears  the  founder  of  our  royal  dynasty — given 
the  posthumous,  honorific  name  of  Jimmu  Tenno, 
“the  Emperor  of  Godlike  Valour.  ” 

The  date  of  his  ascension  to  the  throne  is  fixed 
upon  the  eleventh  of  February,  660  B.C.,  and 
the  day  is  still  observed  as  the  anniversary  of  the 
foundation  of  our  Empire,  and  is  with  us  a time  of 
universal  rejoicing,  such  as  the  Fourth  of  July  is 


54 


TKe  Japanese  Nation 


with  you,  excepting  that  we  are  not  advanced 
enough  to  express  our  jubilation  and  patriotism 
with  the  help  of  fire-crackers.  To  the  Emperor 
it  is  a solemn  occasion,  when  he  worships  before 
the  shrine  of  his  ancestors,  to  thank  them  for 
the  heritage  they  have  left  him,  and  for  their 
constant  protection. 

For  several  centuries  after  the  death  of  the 
first  Emperor,  there  is  not  one  among  his  succes- 
sors who  distinguished  himself  in  any  way.  Like 
some  tedious  chapters  in  the  Bible,  history  barely 
mentions  their  names  and  their  diutumal  reigns. 

So  strangely  devoid  of  events,  right  after  the  sub- 
jugation of  the  savage  tribes,  are  these  reigns, 
that  some  historians  have  cast  a doubt  upon  their 
very  existence.  An  hypothesis  has  been  advanced 
that,  in  those  early  ages,  a year  was  coimted  from 
equinox  to  equinox,  and  hence  its  duration  was 
only  six  months.  It  is  also  thought  quite  probable 
that,  in  editing  and  inditing  ancient  records,  there 
was  a miscalculation  in  the  sexagenary  cycle  (a 
form  of  calendar  in  vogue  in  the  East,  according 
to  which  twelve  years  make  one  course  and  five 
courses,  or  sixty  years,  make  a cycle),  and  imtil 
historical  criticism  establishes  a more  certain  date, 
an  error  of  about  ten  cycles — that  is  of  six  himdred  f 
years — may  be  suggested  as  a solution  of  these  ^ 
unnaturally  long,  imeventful  reigns.  This  would  i 
bring  the  inauguration  of  our  Empire  almost 
within  a half-century  before  Christ,  and  the 
demise  of  our  first  founder  within  a year  of  the 


:j  Significance  of  Past  and  Present  55 

I Christian  era.  It  is  also  believed  by  some  annal- 
' ists  and  ethnologists  that  this  cvirtailment  of  six 
' centuries  brings  our  history  into  better  accord 
' with  some  records  of  China  and  Korea,  as  weU  as 
I vdth  some  anthropological  discoveries  of  recent 
; date.  India,  China,  and  Korea  were  then  already 
at  the  height  of  their  civilisation. 

At  whatever  date  the  reign  of  Jimmu  Tenno 
may  be  fixed,  be  it  660  B.c.  or  only  60  B.C.,  it  is 
not  unlikely  that  in  his  time,  as  well  as  in  the 
reigns  succeeding  his,  constant  exchange  in  trade 
and  in  thought  went  on  between  Japan  and  the 
continent  on  the  one  hand,  and  vith  the  Southern 
I Seas  on  the  other.  Peaceful  commtmication  was 
I now  and  then  interrupted  by  warlike  demonstra- 
! tions,  as  in  the  case  of  the  invasion  of  Korea  about 
! 200  A.D.,  by  our  more  or  less  mythical  Amazonian 

[1  Empress  Jingu.  If  diplomatic  courtesies  were  but 
^ seldom  e.xchanged,  private  individuals  must  have 
I passed  to  and  fro.  The  first  official  communica- 
I tion  with  China  took  place  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
I third  centuiy"  (285  A.D.),  when  a Korean  envoy 
I brought  with  him  a copy  of  the  A nalects  of  Confu- 
cius. This  first  introduction  of  letters  marks  an 
epoch  in  our  histoiy.  Until  this  time  the  Japanese 
had  not  possessed  any  mode  of  writing.  Under 
Korean  teachers,  eager  students  soon  mastered 
the  Chinese  ideographs  and  the  sciences  that 
China  had  to  teach  us. 

The  intellectual  enlightenment,  as  well  as  the 
material  progress  which  followed  in  the  train  of 


56 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


Chinese  studies,  was  overwhelmingly  great.  The 
Court  adopted  Chinese  customs  and  costumes; 
the  learned  and  the  rich  strove  in  imitating  celestial 
manners.  Chinese  art  was  bodily  accepted,  and 
its  canons  blindly  followed.  Upon  Chinese  models 
radical  reforms  were  made  in  the  laws.  A new 
partition  and  distribution  of  land  were  even  en- 
forced. A student  at  leisure  might  amuse  himself 
by  drawing  parallels  between  the  inflow  of  Chinese 
traditions  into  Japan  and  of  Greek  traditions  into 
Italy — even  comparing  the  coincident  geographi- 
cal circumstance  of  Japan’s  turning  her  back  to 
the  continent  of  Asia,  as  does  the  Apennine 
peninsula  to  Hellas. 

While  the  Chinese  leaven  was  thus  vigorously 
working  among  us,  by  the  middle  of  the  sixth 
century,  another,  and  perhaps  a stronger  germ  of 
fermentation,  of  Hindu  origin,  fotmd  its  way 
into  our  Court,  whence  it  soon  spread  far  and 
wide  and  deep ; but  as  I shall  speak  of  Buddhism 
again  in  my  lecture  on  religions  in  Japan,  I shall 
not  devote  much  time  to  it  here,  but  wiU  pro- 
ceed to  the  second  epoch  of  our  history. 

2.  The  adoption  of  Buddhism  as  a state  and 
popular  religion  is  synchronous  with  w'hat  is  known 
in  our  history  as  the  Nara  period,  corresponding 
to  the  eighth  century  of  the  Christian  era  (710-785 
A.D.).  It  was  the  first  great  epoch  of  our  authentic 
history  and  is  so  called  because — whereas  the  seat 
of  government,  or  what  amounts  to  the  same 
thing,  the  residence  of  the  sovereign,  used  to 


I 

Significance  of  Past  and  Present  57 

move  from  place  to  place  with  the  beginning  of 
each  new  reign — early  in  this  century,  Nara,  in 
Central  Japan,  was  selected  as  a permanent  place 
for  the  capitol,  and  the  physical  stability  of  the 
Government,  if  I may  so  term  it,  was  for  the  first 
time  secured.  If  the  Government  and  the  Court 
1 were  not  as  yet  sharply  distinguished,  a nucleus 
of  that  germain  distinction  was  now  introduced. 
The  ancient  identification  of  state  and  religion — 
our  word  matsurigoto,  meaning  either  the  art  of 
. government  or  the  observance  of  religious  rites — 
I still  continued,  and  was,  in  fact,  endorsed  by  the 

I 

' teaching  of  Confucius,  who  taught  kingship  by 
' divine  right  or,  perhaps  more  properly,  kingship 
as  divine  duty.  The  Court,  the  Government,  and 
the  Church  were  all  collected  at  Nara,  the  city 
itself  being  laid  out  in  regular  squares  after  the 
I approved  Chinese  fashion,  with  gates  and  seques- 
' tered  quarters  for  different  social  ranks.  It  is 
even  surmised  by  modem  philologists  that  the 
I very  name  “Nara”  is  an  ancient  Korean  term  for 
i capital.  Here  w'ere  fostered  with  tender  care  and 
displayed  in  lavish  splendour  all  the  arts  learned 
, from  the  continent.  Buddhist  images  of  all  de- 
scriptions were  cast  in  precious  metals  and  bronze ; 
magnificent  temples,  still  standing  and  said  to  be 
the  oldest  wooden  edifices  in  the  world,  were  built 
with  an  elegance  of  decoration  that  now  is  the 
w'onder  of  the  art-world.  Schools  and  universities 
i|  were  also  started  during  this  age.  I have  often 
'!  wondered  whether  the  effect  of  Korean  culture 


58 


TKe  Japanese  Nation 


upon  ancient  Japan  was  not  analogous  to  Etrus- 
can influence  upon  Rome ; while  the  part  played 
by  China  was  comparable  to  what  Greece  did  for 
Italy. 

Japan  afforded  an  asylum  for  the  continentals 
who  sought  refuge  from  the  misgovemment  and 
wars*  of  their  own  home  lands.  Colonies  of 
Koreans  were  given  land  in  different  parts  of  the 
country.  Artisans  were  invited  and  settled 
in  the  towns.  About  the  middle  of  the  seventh 
century,  the  ruling  sovereign  wrote  of  the  amal- 
gamation of  different  races  in  this  stanza ; — 

“Oranges  on  separate  branches  grown, 

When  plucked  are  in  one  basket  thrown.” 

In  815  A.D.  a census  was  taken  in  Kyoto,  which 
showed  the  distribution  of  population  according 
to  classes:  (i)  the  royal;  (2)  the  divine;  (3)  the 
barbarian, — meaning  respectively  those  connected 
by  blood  with  the  reigning  family,  the  Japanese 
(or  rather  those  who  were  in  the  train  of  the  first 
Emperor) , and  the  immigrants  from  the  continent, 
as  well  as  the  pre- Japanese  occupants  of  the  soil. 
The  returns  showed  that  one-third  of  the  popula- 
tion belonged  to  the  last  category. 

Thanks  to  Buddhism,  the  manners  of  our  people 
were  greatly  softened.  We  do  not  hear  of  the 
soldiers  of  that  time.  We  hear  only  of  monks  and 
nobles.  Instead  of  war-drums  stirring  us  to  imi- 
tate the  actions  of  the  tiger,  were  heard  the  tran- 


Significance  of  Past  and  Present  59 

quil  tones  of  temple  bells.  In  place  of  steel  armour 
and  weapons,  rustled  Chinese  silks  and  brocades. 
Literatime,  though  it  retained  some  traces  of 
rugged,  pristine  vigom,  began  to  show  signs  of 
feminine  fastidiousness.  Priests  and  nobles  vied  in 
writing  love-poems  and  amatory  epistles.  It  was 
indeed  a ‘golden  age  of  poetry,  and  if  it  lacked 
manly  vigour,  it  certainly  showed  elegant  finesse, 
both  in  sentiment  and  in  diction.  This  period  is 
conspicuous,  too,  for  having  a number  of  women 
who  distinguished  themselves  in  belles-lettres. 
That  the  fair  sex  enjoyed  great  social  freedom  is 
evident  from  contemporary  records,  though  they 
strangely  enough  omitted  to  claim  the  right  of 
suffrage ! 

Not  a few  European  students  of  history  have 
observed  that  the  predominance  of  the  gentle  sex 
in  intellectual  pursuits  has  proved  a precursor  of 
social  decadence.  Though  America  may  reverse 
this  verdict  of  historians,  the  Nara  period  con- 
firmed it  only  too  well.  With  all  its  refinement, 
or  rather  because  of  this  very  refinement,  in  art 
and  literature,  the  manly  tasks  of  government  and 
warfare  came  to  be  sadly  neglected.  The  Emperor 
had  for  some  time  ceased  to  take  a direct  personal 
part  in  the  government,  this  onerous  and  terri- 
bly terrestrial  labour  being  left  to  his  subjects, 
especially  to  the  family  of  the  Fujiwaras,  who — 
as  all  mortals  under  similar  conditions  are  tempted 
to  do — exercised  this  delegated  power  to  the 
aggrandisement  of  their  own  house.  In  their 


6o 


The  Japanese  Nation 


hands  the  imperial  throne  was  elevated  in  rever- 
ence “above  the  shelf  of  blue  clouds,  “ — an  expres- 
sion which  anticipates  the  modem  English  phrase 
“to  be  shelved” — so  that  the  person  of  the  Em- 
peror was  believed  too  sacred  for  profane  eyes  to 
behold. 

Needless  to  add,  the  royal  power  was  reduced 
to  a mere  name — nay,  to  the  shadow  of  a name. 
Not  infrequently  pressure  was  brought  to  bear 
upon  emperors  to  abdicate  at  an  early  age.  One 
babe  was  crowned  at  the  age  of  two,  only  to  abdi- 
cate at  the  age  of  four.  Nor  w'as  he  a lone  example 
of  august  infancy.  There  was  an  instance  of  the 
throne  being  occupied  by  a child  of  five,  and  in 
several  cases  boys  of  ten  years  were  placed  upon 
it.  Adult  rtders,  who  might  prove  troublesome 
by  asking  questions  about  their  rights  and  duties, 
were  speedily  persuaded  to  retire  into  monasteries. 
By  dexterous  manipulation  did  the  regent  family — 
first  the  Fujiwaras  and  subsequently  the  Tairas — 
manage  to  concentrate  all  political  power  in  their 
own  hands;  but  as  these  famihes  abused  this  power 
for  selfish  gratification,  their  real  influence  grew 
weaker  and  weaker,  so  much  so  that  it  was  not 
seriously  heeded  in  the  provinces,  where  powerful 
men  and  influential  families  took  slight  cognisance 
of  the  central  authority,  and  practically  dominated 
villages  and  coimties,  attaching  to  their  persons 
guards  of  soldiers — very  much  as  did  the  robber 
barons  of  the  Rhine,  or  the  manorial  lords  of  Eng- 
land. These  local  magnates  were  the  men  who 


Significance  of  Past  and  Present  6i 

I aftenvards  became  feudal  lords,  or  daimyos,  and 
I their  retainers  developed  into  the  samurai  of  later 
days. 

' A nation  fallen  into  the  silken  languor  and 
I gilded  euphemism  of  the  Nara  period,  however 
] delectable  to  the  Epicurean,  cannot  escape  politi- 
1 cal  reaction,  and  such  a reaction  was  brought 
j about  by  the  Emperor  Kwammu,  who,  in  order 
to  effect  a radical  change,  not  only  in  administra- 
tion but  in  the  very  spirit  of  the  people,  removed 
the  capital,  late  in  the  eighth  century,  from  Nara 
to  the  present  site  of  Kyoto.  That  period  of  our 
history,  during  which  the  government  had  its 
I seat  here  for  nearly  four  himdred  years  (794-1196 
A.D.),  is  known  as  the  period  of  Heian,  literally 
“Peace  and  Ease” — “Sans  souci” — the  name  by 
which  the  capital  was  called.  The  reforms  insti- 
tuted by  the  heroic  sovereign  Kwammu  included 
the  separation  of  religion  from  poHtics — a task 
which  sounds  very  modem  in  its  conception  and 
I phraseology.  He  removed  priests  from  posts  of 
I administration  and  restricted  the  number  of  re- 
j ligious  ceremonies  and  rites  performed  in  the 
I Court.  The  building  of  temples  was  also  pro- 
hibited, without  special  license  from  the  authori- 
ties. New  laws,  savouring  more  of  Confucian 
I doctrines  than  of  Buddhist  precepts,  were  now  the 
1 order  of  the  day;  but  after  the  death'  of  this 
’ Emperor  the  course  of  events  fell  very  much  into 
the  old  lines.  If  anything,  moral  degeneration 
and  political  corruption  went  farther  than  they 


62 


The  J apanese  Nation 


had  done  during  the  previous  epoch.  We  know 
how  it  was  in  England  in  the  time  of  Charles  the 
First,  and  especially  how  it  was  after  the  Restora- 
tion. Virility  was  sapped  in  the  ruling  classes  and 
manly  stamina  tmdermined  among  the  people. 
Society  as  a whole  was  steeped  in  sensual  and 
sensuous  amusements,  and  of  this  City  of  Peace 
it  may  be  said  that  if  war  slaughtered  its  thou- 
sands, peace  slew  its  tens  of  thousands.  The  hold 
which  Buddhism  had  on  the  people  was  as  great 
as  ever,  and  there  was  untrammelled  indulgence 
in  learning  and  art.  Superstitions,  which  curiously 
enough  so  often  accompany  luxury  (is  not  supersti- 
tion itself  a sort  of  mental  luxury?),  brought  the 
clergy  more  and  more  into  prominence.  And  as 
religion  was  not  rigidly  concerned  with  morality, 
a dissolute  clergy  could  exercise  power  -without 
relinquishing  pleastme. 

They  learned  art  primarily  for  outward  embel- 
lishment, but  also  necessarily  for  the  expression  of 
their  inner  self ; they  trifled  with  learning  chiefly  for 
social  entertainment  but  did  not  study  in  search  of 
truth.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  art  survived  learn- 
ing? Altogether  it  was  an  age  of  laxity  of  morals, 
of  effeminacy  of  manners,  of  imbecility  of  religious 
faith.  It  was,  however,  this  period  that  gave  to 
Japanese  civilisation  many  of  those  features  which 
stiU  remain  objects  of  admiration.  Its  architec- 
ture, or  what  there  is  of  it  after  the  devastation  of 
many  conflagrations,  its  works  of  art,  the  gentle  and 
graceful  manners  and  customs  of  the  people,  our 


Significance  of  Past  and  Present  63 

landscape-gardening,  and  painting  and  poetry — 
these  are  the  greatest  legacies  left  by  this  sybaritic 
age.  Herein  lie  the  present  charms  of  Kyoto. 
We  shotild  have  had  more  of  these  art-gifts,  had 
they  not  been  destroyed  by  the  vandalism  of  the 
latter  part  of  this  period,  when  the  military  power 
of  the  Minamoto  clan,  which  had  been  slowly 
forming  in  distant  provinces,  especially  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  country,  succeeded  in  putting 
a stop  to  the  exercise  of  an  efFete  authority  on  the 
part  of  the  Court.  The  leader  of  this  clan,  Yori- 
tomo,  organised  a system  of  feudalism  and  estab- 
lished his  government  in  the  town  of  Kamakura,  not 
indeed  as  the  usurper  of  royal  power,  but  imder  the 
name  of  Shogun,  the  marechal  of  His  Majesty,  as 
the  vice-regent  and  the  majordomo  of  the  Emperor. 

3.  This  ushers  in  the  third  era  of  our  history, — 
namely,  the  militant  age  of  feudalism,  lasting  for 
some  four  centuries,  the  early  part  of  which  is 
known  as  the  Kamakura  period  and  the  latter  as 
the  Ashikaga.  It  is  one  of  the  most  stirring  and 
romantic  epochs  of  our  history.  It  is  an  epic  age 
of  heroism,  of  daring,  of  action  and  achievement. 
If  literature  is  the  mirror  of  the  age,  the  writings 
of  this  period  certainly  reflect  a spirit  very  differ- 
ent from  that  of  those  preceding  it.  We  meet 
with  very  few  of  those  debonair  romances  wEich 
in  former  times  called  forth  sighs  and  blushes 
from  ladies  and  nobles.  We  meet  instead  tales  of 
adventure,  combat,  and  battle — such  as  enliven 
the  pages  of  Froissart  and  Scott. 


64  XHe  Japanese  Nation 

The  traditions  of  culture  had  not  entirely  died 
away.  On  the  contrary,  the  samurai  patronised 
and  fostered  different  arts,  and  so  we  find  in  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  the  beginnings 
of  the  tea  ceremony,  and  of  flower  arrangement. 
The  artists  of  this  age  of  hero-worship  and  of 
romantic  adventures,  naturally  delight  to  paint 
portraits  and  the  spirit  of  motion.  Sculpture 
created  statues  of  heroic  size  and  character.  This 
age  bequeathed  some  few  works  of  art  and  of 
literatirre  which  may  claim  immortality;  but  the 
best  product  of  this  period  was  men,  and  these 
of  the  type  of  Nietzsche’s  Uebermenschen — men  of 
strong  masculine  calibre,  who  could  wield  a sword 
and  govern  a kingdom;  a type  of  men  who  have 
become  household  names  for  terror  and  strength, 
as  well  as  for  generosity  and  tenderness.  If  his- 
tory is,  as  Carlyle  says,  the  biography  of  great 
men,  the  history  of  this  militant  age  is  beyond 
doubt  the  most  eventful  in  our  annals  of  feudalism. 
It  has  certainly  left  a marked  impress  upon  the 
moral  ideas  of  our  people. 

This  age  natmally  brought  into  strong  relief  the 
figure  of  the  warrior,  the  samurai.  We  speak 
of  it  as  one  of  constant  fighting  and  of  horrible 
bloodshed;  but  warfare  itself  developed  a cast  of 
character,  daring  in  deed,  patient  in  endurance, 
subdued  by  a sense  of  the  vanity  of  life  and  of  the 
mutability  of  earthly  things — a sense  that  Bud- 
dhism helped  in  large  measure  to  encourage.  To 
know  the  sadness  of  things  was  a characteristic 


Significance  of  Past  and  Present  65 

of  the  true  samurai.  Hence  the  consummate 
product  of  this  age  is  not  a fierce  fighter,  but  a 
strong  personality,  with  the  tenderest  of  emotions ; 
a man  who  has  under  control  all  violent  passions, 
whose  tears  are  kept  back  by  sheer  force  of  will. 

Have  you  not  seen  a picture  of  a Japanese  war- 
rior on  his  steed,  pausing  under  a blooming  cherry 
tree?  Every  Japanese  child  is  familiar  with  the 
leader  of  a great  army,  who,  in  the  course  of  his 
march,  had  to  advance  over  a path  strewn  with 
' the  wind-blown  petals  of  the  cherry.  Here  he 
; halted,  deeming  it  desecration  to  trample  upon 
; the  carpet  of  blossoms. 

' The  samurai  of  those  days  looked  upon  the 
profession  of  arms,  not  as  a matter  of  slaughter 
, but  as  a means  of  mental  and  spiritual  training, 
j He  went  to  battle,  and  he  prepared  for  combat, 

I not  so  much  to  gain  a victory  as  to  try  his  skill 
with  his  peer.  Fair  play  and  the  square  deal  were 
the  chief  attractions  of  warfare, 
i We  read  of  a young  warrior  of  the  sixteenth 
j century,  Kato  by  name,  engaged  in  a duel  with 
] Suwoden.  When  the  latter’s  sword  broke,  the 
j former  threw  away  his  own  weapon ; for  it  w^as  not 
fair  to  take  advantage  of  the  misfortune  of  one’s 
I enemy.  In  the  grapple  that  followed,  Suwoden 
got  the  better  of  Kato,  but  as  Suwoden  had  his 
hand  upon  his  enemy’s  throat,  he  said ; — “It  is  not 
samurai-like  for  me,  sir,  to  strangle  you,  who  did  not 
1 slash  me  when  my  sword  was  broken.  Now  I pay 
j you  back;  we  are  on  equal  terms.  This  is  only  a 
: ^ 

I 


66 


XHe  Japanese  Nation 


skirmish,  let  us  meet  each  other  again  in  full 
battle  array.”  They  parted,  and  in  a few  days 
they  confronted  each  other  again  at  the  head  of 
their  armies.  While  the  battle  was  raging  and 
the  forces  of  both  were  in  disorder,  the  two  heroes 
came  forth  and  were  soon  engaged  in  single  com- 
bat. They  both  knew  that  Suwoden’s  was  a 
losing  cause.  He  himself  felt  that  he  came  to  die 
at  the  hand  of  one  who  had  once  saved  his  life; 
Kato  on  his  part  had  come  to  the  field  with  the 
determination  to  give  a ray  of  hope  by  his  own 
death,  to  his  falling  enemy,  who  likewise  had 
spared  his  life.  It  was  a strange  conflict.  Neither 
party  seemed  to  make  the  right  stroke.  Both 
showed  ridiculous  weakness,  as  though  they  were 
ready  to  fall  at  the  first  thrust.  And  when 
through  a mishap  a slight  touch  of  Kato’s  sword 
inflicted  on  Suwoden  a shallow  wound,  he  fell, 
exclaiming,  “I  am  beaten,  sir!  Take  my  head  to 
thy  general  as  an  addition  to  thy  many  trophies.  ” 
Then  Kato  raised  him  up  quickly,  assuring  him 
that  the  cut  was  not  fatal;  but  the  wounded  war- 
rior begged  that  his  head  be  taken  by  one  so 
worthy  of  it.  According  to  the  etiquette  of  war, 
this  was  done,  and  after  his  triumphal  return, 
Kato  interred,  with  due  ceremony  and  with  many 
hot  tears,  the  mortal  remains  of  his  friend  and 
opponent. 

What  do  you  think  of  a mode  of  warfare  during 
the  hottest  engagements  of  which  poetical  tourna- 
ments took  place  or  repartee  was  exchanged 


Significance  of  Past  and  Present  67 

between  the  belligerent  parties?  The  same  ideals 
held  sway  even  in  the  siege  of  Port  Arthur.  It  so 
often  happened  in  that  siege  that,  when  Japanese 
soldiers  had  occupied  a trench,  they  left  behind 
them  a sad  or  comical  letter  in  broken  Russian 
or  else  a droll  picture,  for  the  Russians  who  might 
next  take  possession  of  it.  Then  the  Russians 
would  leave  behind  them  some  well-meaning 
memento  for  the  next  Japanese  party  that 
might  retake  the  trench. 

“War  is  hell”; — but  in  mediaeval  warfare  the 
sense  of  honoirr  often  robbed  it  of  its  horrors,  its 
stigmata,  and  its  subterfuges. 

Women,  too,  imbibed  in  those  militant  times 
those  virtues  which  we  still  admire  in  Spartan  and 
Roman  matrons.  They  did  not  as  a rule  advance 
to  the  front.  It  was  their  duty  to  stay  at  home, 
and  attend  to  the  training  of  their  children. 
Naijo,  the  inner  or  interior  help,  was  their  avoca- 
tion. So,  to  keep  one’s  family  intact  and  in  good 
order,  while  the  master  was  in  the  field,  was  what 
was  expected  of  woman.  But  if  for  some  reason 
or  other  she  found  that  she  was  a hindrance,  how 
unflinchingly  she  sacrificed  herself!  We  read  of 
a young  man  infatuated  by  a girl.  When  she 
found  that  her  beauty  kept  him  from  marching  to 
the  front,  she  disfigured  her  face  with  a red-hot 
iron.  We  read  of  another  young  warrior  who, 
soon  after  he  left  the  threshold  of  his  home,  where 
he  reluctantly  bade  his  last  farewell  to  his  w'ife, 
received  a note,  a few  lines  of  which  will  show  her 


68 


XHe  Japanese  Nation 


decision; — “Since  we  were  joined  in  ties  of  eternal 
wedlock,  now  two  short  years  ago,  my  heart  has 
followed  thee,  even  as  its  shadow  follows  an  object, 
inseparably  bound  soul  to  soul,  loving  and  being 
loved.”  Then  she  goes  on  to  say,  “Why  should 
I,  to  whom  earth  no  longer  offers  hope  or  joy,  why 
should  I detain  thee  or  thy  thoughts  by  living? 
Why  should  I not  rather  await  thee  on  the  road 
which  all  mortal  kind  must  sometime  tread?” 

This  again  is  only  the  prototype  of  what  re- 
peatedly happened  during  the  Russo-Japanese 
War,  when  aged  mothers  were  known  to  stab 
themselves  in  order  to  encourage  their  sons  to 
go  forth  and  not  to  have  their  thoughts  drawn 
backward. 

I have  caused  you  to  linger  among  our  mediaeval 
warriors  perhaps  longer  than  you  care ; for  without 
understanding  them,  their  ideas  in  regard  to  life, 
to  duty,  to  right  and  to  wrong,  modem  Japan 
will  remain  unintelligible.  If  you  can  grasp  their 
view-point,  many  things  which  seem  so  queer  and 
paradoxical  in  Japanese  life  will  become  clearer. 
That  life  may  strike  you  at  first  sight  as  very 
un-christian ; but,  strange  to  say,  it  was  just  at 
the  time  when  the  power  and  honom*  of  the 
samurai  were  at  their  height,  that  Christianity 
reached  Japan  and  found  a field  white  unto  harvest 
— and  this  not  among  the  down-trodden  masses 
only,  but  among  the  bravest  of  the  gentry  and  the 
most  genteel  dames. 

It  is  indeed  a remarkable  feature  of  the  mission- 


Significance  of  Past  and  Present  69 

ary  enterprise  of  this  time,  that  it  permeated  the 
highest  social  classes  as  well  as  the  lowest.  Only- 
in  recent  years,  is  it  becoming  clear  what  a deep 
and  far-reaching  spiritual  influence  it  exercised 
on  the  new  converts.  Some  of  om  historical 
personages  (inclusive  of  women)  noted  for  purity 
or  strength  of  character,  whose  religious  profession 
was  not  generally  kno-wn,  are  now  foimd  to  have 
been  followers  of  Jesus.  One  can  very  easily 
imagine  new  religionists,  in  zeal  for  their  faith, 
sometimes  taking  an  imprudent  course  that  would 
offend  the  more  conservative  of  their  coimtrymen. 
If  history  repeats  itself,  it  seems  to  me  that  no 
history  does  so  more  frequently  than  ecclesiastical. 
A study  of  its  earliest  days  and  of  those  following 
the  Reformation,  will  give  a clue  to  the  right 
understanding  of  the  e.xperience  through  which  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Japan  passed  in  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.  Unfortu- 
nately for  the  papal — not  to  say  Christian — cause, 
the  one  respect  in  which  our  church  history  dif- 
fered from  that  of  Europe,  lay  in  the  fact  that 
the  blood  of  our  martyrs  did  not  turn  out  to  be 
“the  seed  of  the  church.”  Does  this  prove  that 
the  Japanese  converts  were  so  weak  as  to  deny 
their  Lord  at  the  sight  of  the  sword  and  of  fire? 
Were  they  traitors  and  apostates?  On  the  con- 
trary, thousands  of  them  willingly  and  joyously 
acknowledged  the  cross  and  died  for  it.  Martyr- 
dom was  quite  in  the  line  of  Bushido  teaching. 
Equally  samurai-like,  if  not  Christ-like,  was  the 


70 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


step  taken  by  a large  band  of  believers,  who  rose 
in  arms  as  the  last  resort  of  their  faith.  The  so- 
called  rebellion  of  Shimabara  (1638)  was  the  ex- 
treme measure  of  the  Christians’  protest  against 
political  and  religious  tyranny.  It  ended  most 
disastrously  for  their  cause,  and  with  the  summary 
slaughter  of  the  best  Christian  knights  ended  all 
public  profession  of  the  religion  of  Christ.  Hence- 
forth Christianity  was  known  as  Ja-kyo,  an  evil 
faith,  a religion  that  encourages  treason,  rebellion, 
deception,  assassination,  poisoning,  and  all  clan- 
destine tricks  and  magical  incantations.  To  con- 
jure the  name  of  Yaso,  as  Jesus  is  pronounced  in 
Japanese,  was  to  call  upon  aU  the  legions  of  evil 
spirits.  Whoever  sirrvived  the  rebellion  alluded 
to,  was  put  to  the  sword.  Every  nook  and  cor- 
ner was  searched  lest  one  should  escape.  A strict 
census  was  yearly  taken  by  the  Buddhist  monas- 
teries, for  the  Buddhist  priests  of  those  times  were 
in  no  small  measure  responsible  for  the  blood  of  the 
Christian  martyrs. 

The  decisive  stand  Japan  took  against  Christ- 
ianity affords  a most  fruitful  theme  for  specula- 
tion. If.  the  country  had  been  brought  entirely 
under  the  control  of  the  Jesuits,  what  would  have 
been  its  fate?  It'  is  not  probable  that  it  would 
have  lost  its  pohtical  independence  and  simply 
succumbed  to  Spanish  rule;  but  it  is  conceivable 
that,  but  for  the  eradication  of  the  incipient  faith, 
Japan  would  now  be  a second  or  third-rate  Catho- 
lic power  in  the  East.  If  Japan  had  formed  a part 


Significance  of  Past  and  Present  71 

of  Christendom,  sequestrated  and  humble,  and 
continued  as  such  from  the  seventeenth  century, 
it  is  presumable  that  the  mental  affinity  between 
the  East  and  the  West  would  have  grown  closer. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  likely  that  the  Catholic 
Church  would  have  proved  an  additional  factor 
in  the  conflicting  and  distirrbing  forces  at  work 
in  the  country  and  would  have  prevented  Japan 
from  realising  the  unique  peace  she  enjoyed,  and 
the  arts  she  developed,  as  well  as  the  racial  homo- 
geneity and  compact  nationalism  she  maintained — 
all  of  which  marked  the  following  epoch  of  her 
history. 

4.  The  Shogunate,  which  represented  the 
actual  governing  power,  passed,  after  the  eleventh 
century,  from  one  family  to  another  in  quite 
rapid  succession  until  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  when  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  lyeyasu, 
head  of  the  Tokugawa  house,  in  whose  hand  it  was 
centralised  and  elaborately  organised. 

On  the  ground  that  all  the  Spaniards  and  Portu- 
guese were  followers  of  the  "evil  sect,”  they  were 
ordered  to  leave  forever  the  "sacred  soil  of  the 
divine  land,”  as  we  call  Japan.  Before  the  close 
of  1639,  there  was  thus  left  neither  a missionary 
nor  a merchant  of  either  of  these  nationalities, 
except  some  few  who  were  naturalised  or  who 
apostatised. 

Thus  was  consummated  by  the  founder  of  the 
Tokugawa  family,  the  exclusive  measures  so  jeal- 
ously maintained  by  his  successors  for  two  and  a 


72 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


half  centuries.  His  policy  did  not  stop  here.  It 
was  as  inclusive  as  it  was  exclusive.  So  rigorous 
was  the  Edict  of  1637,  that  not  only  were  for- 
eigners forbidden  to  land  on  the  Japanese  coast, 
but  the  natives  were  prohibited  from  leaving  it. 
Ships  above  a certain  tonnage  w'ere  not  allowed 
to  be  built.  Prior  to  this  period,  the  Japanese 
had  been  free  to  go  from  and  retrun  to  their  coun- 
try at  will.  Many  had  been  the  ships  that  plied 
between  Java,  Manila,  Annam,  Siam,  Malacca, 
China,  Korea,  and  India,  and  there  are  interesting 
pages  regarding  our  colonial  activity  in  the  history 
of  those  times.  Now  all  these  enterprises  received 
a death-blow  by  the  stroke  of  a pen. 

Cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  world  by  this  ex- 
clusive and  inclusive  policy,  there  was  formed  a 
society  impervious  to  ideas  from  without,  and  fos- 
tered within  by  every  kind  of  paternal  legislation. 
Methods  of  education  were  cast  in  a definite 
mould ; press  censure  was  vigorously  exercised ; no 
new  or  alien  thought  was  tolerated,  and  if  any 
head  harbomed  one,  it  was  in  immediate  danger 
of  being  dissevered  from  the  body  that  upheld  it ; 
even  matters  of  friseur,  costume,  and  building  were 
strictly  regulated  by  the  State.  Social  classes  of  the 
most  elaborate  order  were  instituted.  Etiquette 
of  the  most  rigorous  form  was  ordained.  It  was 
during  this  period  that  the  tea  ceremony,  flower 
arrangement,  and  other  devices  for  mollifying 
social  manners  reached  a high  degree  of  perfection. 
Even  the  manner  of  committing  suicide  by  splitting 


Significance  of  Past  and  Present  73 

one’s  bowels  was  minutely  prescribed.  Industries 
were  forced  into  specified  channels,  thus  retarding 
economic  development.  As  no  relations  existed 
with  foreign  powers,  international  wars  did  not 
trouble  us.  Peace  reigned  within  the  Empire,  but 
only  such  peace  as  would  be  possible  in  the  slumber 
of  the  Middle  Ages. 

If,  however,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  clouds  were 
gathering  to  burst  amidst  the  thunder  and  light- 
ning of  the  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation, 
conditions  in  Japan  were  not  dissimilar;  for,  in 
spite  of  political  and  economic  inactivity,  the 
Tokugawa  period  was  pregnant  with  mighty  forces 
— forces  which,  as  we  shall  see,  were  soon  to  reveal 
themselves  in  the  awakening  life  of  the  New  Era. 

Recent  events  in  China  have  made  us  familiar 
with  the  fact  that  her  present  reigning  dynasty 
dates  back  to  1644.  That  was  the  year  when  the 
capital  of  the  former  dynasty,  the  Ming,  was 
captured.  As  two  centuries  previously  the  fall  of 
Constantinople  drove  Grecian  scholars  into  Italy, 
there  to  disseminate  the  seeds  of  the  Renaissance, 
so  the  fall  of  Nanking  made  Chinese  scholars  seek 
refuge  on  our  shores,  there  to  spread  anew  the 
teachings  of  Chinese  classics  and  ultimately  to 
bring  about  the  regeneration  of  the  Island  Empire. 

The  revival  of  Confucian  classics  reminded  the 
scholars  of  Japan  that  their  allegiance  was  due 
solely  and  singly  to  the  Tenno  (Emperor),  and  not 
to  the  Shogun.  The  simultaneous  revival  of  pure 
Shinto,  which  inculcated  the  divine  right  and  de- 


74 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


scent  of  the  Emperor,  also  conveyed  the  same  po- 
litical evangel.  Whispers,  started  among  priests 
and  savants  that  the  Shogun  must  go,  spread  from 
ear  to  ear,  and  in  spite  of  everything  his  authority 
could  devise  to  stem  the  current,  the  new  doctrine 
took  wings  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the 
other.  He  who  ran  might  read  the  ominous  signs 
of  the  times.  The  abrogation  of  the  Shogun  only 
awaited  the  slightest  provocation,  and  this  wcs 
supplied  by  the  coming  of  an  American — the 
appearance  of  Commodore  Perry  in  our  waters,  in 
1853.  Very  naturally  he  believed  that  the  Sho- 
gun or  Tycoon,  as  he  was  sometimes  called,  was  the 
legitimate  and  ultimate  power  in  the  Empire,  and 
opened  negotiations  with  him.  Better  versed  in 
world-politics  than  the  Emperor’s  Court,  w^hich 
had  not  been  in  touch  with  actual  affairs,  the 
Shogunal  government  accepted  the  Commodore’s 
proposals  and  signed  a treaty  of  peace,  com- 
merce and  navigation,  in  the  spring  of  1854. 
This  high-handed  proceeding  on  the  part  of  the 
Shogun  precipitated  the  crisis.  Those  w'ho  were 
opposed  to  him  and  advocated  that  the  Emperor 
alone  had  the  power  to  enter  into  foreign  rela- 
tions, were  called  Imperialists,  and  they  de- 
manded that  the  treaty  be  nullified  and  that  the 
Shogim  forfeit  the  authority  he  so  unscrupulously 
abused. 

Keiki,  the  last  of  the  Shoguns,  wdllingly  sur- 
rendered it,  because  he  knew  w'ell  enough  that  he 
held  it  only  in  trust.  Not  so  the  feudal  lords  who 


Significance  of  Past  and  Present  75 

had  been  created  by  his  house.  ‘They  naturally 
desired  the  continuance  of  the  old  regime.  Many 
daimyos  espoused  the  falling  cause  of  the  Toku- 
gawa  Shogun,  but  a still  larger  number  of  power- 
ful houses  arrayed  themselves  under  the  brocade 
banner  of  the  Emperor.  Ever  since  the  Shimabara 
rebellion,  people  had  not  knovm  war,  and  now 
the  whole  country  was  rent  by  a commotion  from 
which  no  samurai  could  be  free.  The  god  of  war 
decided  in  favour  of  the  Imperial  cause  and  the 
Tokugawas  retired  to  private  life  (Prince  Keiki, 
still  living,  is  a respected  gentleman  of  seventy- 
five)  and  the  system  of  Shogunal  government 
was  abolished. 

5.  This  episode  in  our  history  is  often  called  a 
revolution;  but  the  term  is  misleading,  as  it  sug- 
gests many  an  event  known  by  that  name  in 
Europe.  “Restoration”  will  better  express  the 
character  of  this  crisis,  because  the  issue  involved 
was  the  restoration  of  the  Emperor  to  his  legiti- 
mate authority.  This  was  consummated  in  1868, 
and  marks  the  beginning  of  the  present  reign.  It 
is  from  this  date  that  we  count  the  new  era,  the 
era  of  Meiji — “The  Enlightened  Reign,” — the 
present  year  (1912)  being  the  forty-fifth  of  Meiji. 

Though  the  Imperialist  party  commenced  its 
hostility  to  the  Tokugawas  by  opposing  their 
policy  of  opening  the  country’’  to  foreign  trade,  a 
few  bitter  encounters  with  European  gun-boats 
soon  convinced  them  of  the  futility  of  exclusivism. 
It  is,  however,  only  just  to  state  that  a large  num- 


76 


XKe  Japanese  Nation 


ber  of  those  who  publicly  denounced  the  treaty, 
entertained  in  their  hearts  no  hostile  feeling  regard- 
ing intercourse  with  western  nations,  and  when 
they  cried  “Dowti  with  the  western  barbarians!” 
they  used  this  slogan  only  to  hide  their  real  inten- 
tion, which  was  the  overthrow  of  the  Shogunate. 
In  the  midst  of  national  convulsions  the  Emperor 
died,  leaving  the  throne  to  his  son,  the  present 
ruler,  Mutsuhito — then  a lad  of  sixteen.  Within 
a year  of  his  coronation,  the  Imperialists  gained  a 
complete  victory  over  the  forces  of  the  Shogun,  so 
that  by  the  year  1869  the  country  was  pacified, 
and  the  duarchy,  which  had  lasted  from  the  twelfth 
century,  was  entirely  dissolved,  and  an  im- 
hampered  monarchy  re-estabhshed.  The  young 
Emperor,  fortunately  of  sterling  character,  com- 
manding intellect,  and  good  physique,  signalised 
his  new  reign  by  proclaiming  on  oath,  on  the  sixth 
of  April,  1 868,  the  five  principles  of  his  government, 
known  as  the  Charter  Oath  of  Five  Articles.  This 
proclamation  was  the  Magna  Charta  of  the  Japan- 
ese Empire.  It  nms : 

1.  An  Assembly  widely  convoked  shall  be  es- 
tablished, and  all  affairs  of  State  decided  by 
impartial  discussion. 

2.  All  administrative  matters  of  State  shall  be 
conducted  by  the  co-operative  efforts  of  the 
governing  and  the  governed. 

3.  All  the  people  shall  be  given  opportunity  to 
satisfy  their  legitimate  desires. 


Significance  of  Past  and  Present  77 

4.  All  absurd  usages  shall  be  abandoned,  and 
justice  and  righteousness  shall  regulate  all 
actions. 

5.  Knowledge  and  learning  shall  be  sought  for  all 
over  the  world,  and  thus  the  foundations  of 
the  imperial  polity  be  greatly  strengthened. 

New  Japan  has  been  governed  in  accordance 
with  this  enlightened  policy. 

The  year  1871  saw  the  abolition  of  feudalism 
with  the  voluntary  stirrender  of  their  fiefs  by  the 
daimyos  themselves.  At  that  time  there  was 
already  in  the  minds  of  a few,  as  is  also  indicated 
in  the  first  article  cited,  the  vision  of  a constitu- 
tional government.  The  more  radicaUy-minded 
among  them  would  have  hked  to  have  seen  it 
realised  at  once;  but  calmer  cotmsel  prevailed, 
and  the  most  advanced  statesmen  estimated  that 
it  would  take  two  or  three  decades  to  prepare  the 
nation  for  a limited  monarchy.  Not  only  was 
education  made  compulsory  between  the  years  of 
six  and  twelve,  but  education  in  the  wider  sense 
of  self-governing  citizenship  was  insisted  upon. 
For  instance,  a deliberative  body  was  formed, 
consisting  of  old  and  tried  public  servants,  and 
soon  after  an  annual  assembly  of  provincial 
governors  w'as  convened.  Publications  relating  to 
parliamentary  forms  of  government  were  trans- 
lated and  disseminated.  In  short,  every  method 
was  employed  to  prepare  the  nation  for  the  final 
adoption  of  the  constitution.  I may  say  it  took 


78 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


over  twenty  years,  from  the  time  a constitution 
was  seriously  discussed  until  the  time  when  it  was 
finally  promulgated  in  1889.  Side  by  side  with 
the  preparation  for  civil  Hberty,  reforms  were  set 
in  motion  in  every  social  and  political  institution. 
A broad  basis  for  intelligent  democracy  was  to  be 
secured  by  erasing  social  distinctions. 

The  time-honoured  social  classification  of  citi- 
zens into  the  sammai,  or  military  and  professional 
men,  the  tillers  of  the  soil,  the  artisans  and  lastly 
the  merchants,  was  abolished. 

The  defence  of  the  country  was  entirely  re- 
modelled. The  place  of  the  samurai  as  defenders 
of  the  country  was  taken  by  a standing  army, 
raised  by  a system  of  conscription.  The  old 
samurai  descended,  as  it  were,  into  the  lower  or- 
ders, and  in  so  doing  elevated  the  moral  tone  of 
the  masses  by  instilling  their  code  of  honour  into 
their  hitherto  despised  inferiors.  The  populace, 
being  now  amenable  to  military  duties,  were 
raised,  so  to  speak,  to  the  ranks  of  the  sammai. 

It  was  a great  experiment  to  prove  whether  an 
army  or  navy,  necessarily  consisting  according 
to  conscription  laws  very  largely  of  peasantry, 
could  be  made  an  efficient  engine  of  territorial 
defence.  The  test  of  this  experiment  came  when, 
in  1877,  the  so-called  Saigo  rebellion  occurred, 
in  which  the  flower  of  the  Satsmna  samurai,  always 
noted  for  their  bravery,  was  met  by  the  Imperial 
troops,  recruited  by  conscription.  It  was  soon 
discovered,  to  our  amazement  and  satisfaction. 


Significance  of  Past  and  Present  79 

that  in  our  peasantry  was  the  material  for  an 
efficient  army.  As  for  the  material  for  the  navy, 
the  brave  fisher-folk  of  our  coasts  formed  a more 
than  adequate  supply. 

It  was  not  only  in  military  institutions  that 
reforms  were  introduced  and  bore  fruit,  as  has 
been  demonstrated  to  the  world  at  large  in  the 
three  w'ars  in  which  we  have  since  been  engaged — 
the  wars  with  China  in  1894-5,  with  Russia  in 
1904-5,  and  at  the  time  of  the  Boxer  revolt  in 
1900. 

The  progress  made  in  the  military  and  naval 
regimes  is  but  a small  part  of  our  national  pro- 
gress. In  political  life,  the  transformation  was, 
if  anything,  more  marvellous.  When,  as  the 
result  of  twenty  years’  preparation,  the  nation 
was  deemed  ripe  for  representative  government, 
the  constitution  was,  in  1889,  proclaimed  in  the 
name  of  the  Emperor,  and  the  first  parliament 
took  its  seat  the  foUowdng  year.  This  constitu- 
tional experiment — the  first  to  be  tried  by  an 
Asiatic  people — was  watched  with  much  interest, 
if  not  curiosity,  by  outsiders.  It  is  enough  to 
state  here  that  an  experience  of  twenty  years  has 
deprived  the  constitution  of  the  character  of  an 
experiment.  It  has  come  to  stay  on  Asiatic  soil. 
It  even  threatens  to  invade  the  continent  in  a far 
more  radical  form.  As  to  party  government,  how- 
ever, we  have  as  yet  only  a feeble  semblance  of  it ; 
but  here  we  feel  no  regret — in  the  face  of  recent 
examples  this  country  has  shown  us. 


8o 


TKe  Japanese  Nation 


The  Gregorian  calendar  was  adopted  and  the 
Christian  Sabbath  made  a regular  holiday.  Laws 
were  codified  on  the  principles  of  the  most  ad- 
vanced jurisprudence,  yet  without  violating  the 
best  traditions  of  the  people.  Higher  education 
in  cultural  and  technical  lines  was  encouraged  and 
patronised.  New  industries  were  constantly  intro- 
duced or  old  ones  improved.  Means  of  communi- 
cation— shipping,  railways,  the  telegraph  and 
telephone — have  been  steadily  extended.  Changes 
in  all  the  departments  of  national  and  commercial 
life  are  still  transpiring;  but  an  account  of  them 
would  take  me  out  of  the  pale  of  history  into  the 
story  of  the  Present. 

This  statement  is  often  repeated — that  Japan 
has  achieved  in  five  decades  what  it  took  Europe 
five  centuries  to  accomplish.  The  privilege  of 
youth  lies  in  the  inheritance  of  the  dearly-bought 
experience  of  age.  We  are  forever  indebted  to 
our  older  sisters  in  the  family  of  nations.  Who 
can  believe  nowadays  that  the  Western  Powers 
at  one  time  seriously  discussed  the  partitioning  of 
Japan?  This  was  actually  contemplated  about 
forty  years  ago. 

I have  sketched  in  rough  outline  the  course  of 
our  historical  development  to  give  you  an  idea 
that  the  institutions  of  modem  Japan,  introduced, 
as  many  of  them  are,  from  abroad,  have  all  been 
the  outcome  of  genetic  growth,  no  great  violence 
having  ever  been  done  to  the  law  of  continuity. 
It  is  often  said  that  our  progress  is  confined  to  our 


Significance  of  Past  and  Present  8i 

leaders;  but  you  do  not  hear  that  a mob  of  the 
people  destroyed  a telegraph  line  or  a railway 
track,  or  set  fire  to  a schoolhouse. 

Psychologists  and  sociologists  have  always 
looked  upon  the  progress  of  Japan  with  no  little 
suspicion.  Le  Bon  and  others  of  his  school  called 
the  occidentalisation  of  Japan  a thin  veneer.  They 
thought  that  our  army,  trained  and  armed  after 
Western  pattern,  was  only  for  show.  They  thought 
that  our  navy  was  a plaything,  invincible  only  in 
peace,  and  probably  invisible  in  war;  for  never, 
they  said,  could  an  Oriental  organise  or  manage 
such  an  intricate  machine  as  a modem  gun-boat 
in  the  face  of  actual  danger.  They  thought  that 
our  education  in  Western  science  and  philosophy 
was  but  apish  mimicry,  for,  they  avowed,  white 
XJhilosophy  and  white  science  can  never  penetrate 
the  brown  head.  I do  not  know  where  Monsieur 
Le  Bon  now  stands;  but  the  nations  that  have 
seen  our  people  not  only  in  times  of  peace  and 
play,  but  in  those  dark  hours  which  try  men’s 
souls,  have  judged  differently.  The  American 
people,  with  their  youthful  optimism  and  broad 
human  sympathy,  have  always  been  the  first  to 
recognise  whatever  steps  we  have  taken  in  the 
onward  march. 

When  other  nations  tried  to  bar  our  progress  or 
slur  our  reputation,  America  always  stood  for  us 
and  with  us.  Indeed  American  sympathy  has 
been  a potent  influence  in  the  latest  phase  of 
our  national  life. 


82 


The  Japanese  Nation 


There  are  many  pages  in  our  recent  history 
which  will  be  unintelligible,  imless  the  reader 
keeps  in  mind  the  presence  of  hostile  and  friendly 
foreign  Powers.  No  nation  of  oxir  day  and  genera- 
tion can  live  in  isolation,  any  more  than  can  a 
lower  organism,  and  as  ecology  decides  what  a 
plant  will  be,  so  does  foreign  environment  deter- 
mine a nation’s  course.  Which  nation  has  re- 
tarded and  which  accelerated  our  growth?  Which 
offers,  or  will  offer,  a favourable,  and  which  a 
fatal,  condition  ? We  shall  speak  in  a future  lecture 
of  the  part  .played  by  America  in  our  national 
development — how  her  Stars  heralded  to  the 
world  the  rising  of  our  Sun. 


CHAPTER  IV 


RACE  AND  NATIONAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

IT  is  related  of  Napoleon  that  when  the  vexed 
question  of  his  pedigree  was  once  discussed, 
he  cut  the  Gordian  knot  in  his  characteristic  way 
by  the  naive  and  pregnant  affirmation,  "Je  suis 
moi-meme  un  ancetre.”  To  an  egoist  or  the 
nouveau  riche,  this  reply  may  be  all-sufficient;  to 
a race  already  possessed  of  a tall  ancestral  tree, 
the  question  of  whence  they  came  and  how  they 
came  to  be  where  they  are,  is  a natural  intellectual 
pursuit,  replete  with  practical  consequences,  and 
when  the  cult  of  that  race  happens  to  consist 
largely  in  the  veneration  of  its  forebears,  a know- 
ledge of  genealogy  will  free  them  from  the  charge 
of  worshipping  the  “unknown  gods.  ” 

In  my  last  lecture,  I hinted  that  among  Asiatic 
peoples  we  are  the  youngest.  We  used  to  boast 
of  a history  of  twenty-seven  centuries,  but  it 
seems  more  probable  that  it  is  to  be  shortened  to 
the  space  of  twenty.  This  brings  the  birth  of  our 
nation  to  the  time  of  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
era,  but  even  for  four  or  five  centuries  after  this, 
our  history  can  hardly  be  called  strictly  authentic. 

83 


84 


The  Japanese  Nation 


When  documents  so  accurately  compiled  as  that 
of  the  Hebrews,  claiming  moreover  divine  inspira- 
tion, are  still  constantly  being  improved  and  recon- 
structed, we  may  well  expect  no  slight  alterations 
in  the  rendering  of  our  chronicles  from  the  hand 
of  future  investigators. 

Whatever  the  exact  dates  in  the  early  records 
of  Japan,  this  much  is  certain — that  compared 
with  Korea,  China,  or  India,  we  are  a young 
nation,  and  stand  to  these  hoary  peoples,  as  far 
as  age  is  concerned,  as  did  the  Germanic  folk  to 
the  Romans,  or,  more  aptly,  to  the  Phoenicians 
and  Egyptians,  and  are  thus  the  heir  of  all  the 
ages  of  Asiatic  tradition. 

When  our  forefathers  lived  by  the  hunt  or  by 
crude  agriculture — which  can  scarcely  be  called 
agriculture  in  the  modem  sense,  being  what  Hahn 
calls  Hackbau  (hoe  culture)  as  against  Ackerbau, — 
without  letters,  without  cities,  the  Koreans  and 
the  Chinese  were  in  the  enjoyment  of  a high  civili- 
sation. It  is  possible,  as  we  have  seen,  that 
some  adventurous  spirits  among  these  peoples 
braved  the  sea  that  separated  Japan  from  their 
home.  Aided  by  a favourable  wind,  a bark  can 
cross  these  waters  without  much  difficulty.  Indeed, 
Japan  is  geographically  quite  accessible  from  many 
quarters.  An  intrusion — not  in  great  hordes  but 
in  single  files  as  it  were — from  the  north  is  not 
impossible  either  from  the  Asiatie  eontinent  by 
way  of  Kamtchatka  and  Saghalien  or  from  America 
by  the  stepping-stones  of  the  Aleutian  and  Kiuile 


Race  and  National  CKaracteristics  85 

Islands.  The  same  is  true  of  a passage  from  the 
South  Sea  Islands,  there  being  an  almost  continu- 
ous stretch  of  archipelagoes. 

A group  of  islands  tmder  a genial  sky  and  with 
enchant  ng  scenery  may  weU  have  allured  races 
from  the  torrid  south  or  from  the  frigid  north,  or 
from  places  of  corresponding  latitude  on  the  conti- 
nent, whence  extremes  of  cold  and  heat  or  whence 
misgovemment  or  overpopulation  might  have 
driven  the  inhabitants. 

The  Chinese  had  from  of  old  a pretty  legend  of 
three  mountainous  islands  in  the  eastern  sea, 
where  the  dwellers  quaff  the  elixir  of  life  and  enjoy 
immortal  bliss.  It  was  in  search  of  this  place, 
Horai  Mountain,  as  it  was  called,  that  a Chinese 
Emperor,  Shi-Houang,  sent  a physician  in  the 
third  century  b.c.  It  is  said  that  the  envoy  set 
out,  taking  with  him  three  himdred  youths  and 
three  hundred  maidens,  and,  landing  in  Japan, 
was  loath  to  return  and  settled  permanently  near 
Mount  Fuji.  Jofuku,  for  such  was  the  name 
of  the  physician,  did  not  pretend  to  be  the  dis- 
coverer of  Japan,  much  less  the  founder  of  a new 
nation. 

I give  this  legend  as  an  instance  of  old-time 
intercourse  between  the  continent  and  our  islands, 
and  as  an  illustration  how  our  people  may  easily 
have  come  under  Mongolian  influence.  Only  there 
seems  as  yet  little  philological  affinity  established 
between  the  continental  peoples  and  the  Japanese. 
In  this  respect  a relationship  with  the  Malay  races 


86 


The  Japanese  Nation 


promises  to  be  closer,  though  as  yet  no  definite 
conclusion  is  reached. 

But  before  the  Malays  or  the  Chinese  reached 
the  shore  of  Japan,  a hairy  race  of  Northern  blood, 
large  in  numbers  and  known  as  the  Ainu,  seem  to 
have  held  the  entire  country  in  possession. 

Were  the  Ainu,  then,  the  original  inhabitants 
of  the  Japanese  islands?  According  to  their  own 
tradition,  when  they  came  they  found  a people 
settled  there,  a description  of  whom  suggests  a 
race  akin  to  the  Lapps.  Tradition  and  archaeolog- 
ical remains  are  responsible  for  the  hypothesis  that 
the  autochthons  of  our  land  were  this  pigmy  race, 
fair  of  skin,  gentle  in  spirit,  and  nocturnal  in  habits. 
It  is  said  that  they  never  made  their  appearance 
in  the  day-time.  They  were  known  as  Korupo- 
unguri — Korupo  being  the  name  of  a plant,  the 
Nadosmia  Japonica,  and  Unguri,  Hke  Ungam 
(Hungary)  meaning  a man — so  called  because, 
according  to  their  legend,  they  lived  imder  the 
large,  round  leaves  of  this  plant.  They  were 
superseded  by  the  hirsute  Ainu,  but  whence  these 
came  we  do  not  know ; though  this  much  is  certain, 
that  they  were  once  in  possession  of  the  whole  of 
the  islands,  as  is  showm  by  the  geographical  names 
they  left  behind  them.  In  the  course  of  time  the 
Ainu  themselves  were  gradually  driven  north- 
ward, and  only  a handful  of  them,  amounting  to 
about  eighteen  thousand,  still  live  in  the  northern 
island  of  Hokkaido  (Yezo).  As  they  are  now 
found,  they  have  not  yet  emerged  from  the  Stone 


IVace  and  National  CHaracteristics  87 

Age,  possessing  no  art  beyond  a primitive  form  of 
horticulture,  being  ignorant  even  of  the  rudest 
pottery.  Their  fate  resembles  that  of  your  Ameri- 
can Indians,  though  they  are  much  more  docile  in 
character.  Who  drove  away  these  Ainu,  is  a 
question  not  clearly  answered;  but  it  is  probable 
that  tribes  allied  to  the  Koreans  crossed  the  Sea 
of  Japan  and,  being  much  more  advanced  in  civili- 
sation, made  themselves  masters  of  Ainu  territoIy^ 
There  is  some  ground  to  believe  that  it  is  the 
traditions  of  Korean  tribes  which  largely  formed 
the  beginnings  of  our  .chronicles.  The  headquar- 
ters of  tfie  early  Korean  colonists  were  in  the 
province  of  Idzumo,  which  faces  Korea  across  the 
sea,  and  where  still  linger  the  oldest  historical 
legends;  but  these  people,  whoever  they  might 
have  been,  did  not  multiply  and  replenish  the 
entire  land,  much  less  subdue  it ; for  another  race, 
stronger  and  more  robust,  seems  to  have  occupied 
the  southern  part  of  Japan,  where  they  formed 
a community  quite  independent  of  the  Idzumo 
people.  Were  they  Malays?  No  evidence  can 
be  drawn  from  legends  or  traditions.  Indeed,  there 
were  no  legends  or  traditions  of  Malay  immigra- 
tion; but  the  morphological  characteristics  of  the 
occupiers  of  Idzumo  and  of  Kyushu  show  marked 
divergence  in  the  form  of  their  skulls,  the  colour 
of  the  skin,  and  the  shape  of  the  face. 

Thus  the  farther  we  trace  our  lineage,  the  more 
entangled  grow  the  threads  which  as  warp  and  woof 
went  to  weave  our  nationality.  We  are  still  on 


88 


The  Japanese  Nation 


the  hunt  after  our  ancestor.  With  better  reason 
than  can  usually  be  assigned  for  the  proverbial  dis- 
sensions of  scholars,  the  latter  are  not  yet  agreed 
about  our  ancestral  trunk,  some  of  them  even 
delighting  in  fantastic  theories.  To  take  a few 
examples; — the  old  Dutch  scholar  Kaempfer  be- 
lieved that  the  primeval  Japanese  were  a scion 
of  the  people  who  built  the  Tower  of  Babel.  Hyde- 
Clarke  identifies  them  with  Turano -Africans  who 
have  travelled  eastward  through  Egypt,  China, 
and  Japan.  Macleod  took  them  to  be  one  of  the 
lost  tribes  of  Israel.  The  presence  of  curly  hair 
causes  Siebold  to  believe  they  were  relat*ed  to  the 
“Alfuros” — Melanesians  and  Caroline  Islanders. 
Some  years  ago,  a yoimg  man  went  to  infinite 
pains  to  draw  parallels  between  the  language,  cus- 
toms, and  institutions  of  the  Hittites  and  of  the 
Japan  se — only  our  knowledge  of  the  Hittites  is 
not  much  greater  than  our  knowledge  of  the  canals 
in  Mars.  Whitney  and  Morton,  and  latterly  Grif- 
fis, do  not  hesitate  in  tracing  us  to  a Caucasic 
ancestry. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  one’s  pedigree  can  be 
verified  in  more  ways  than  one — anatomical,  philo- 
logical, religious,  traditional,  and  what  not — we 
may  one  day  arrive  at  a solution  from  some 
most  unexpected  quarter. 

Just  here  I may  be  allowed  to  make  a digression 
which  may  throw  some  light  on  the  race-affinity, 
hitherto  unsuspected  between  Japan  and  Europe, 
whoever  may  have  occupied  the  West  of  Europe 


Race  and  National  CHaracteristics  89 

contemporaneously  with  the  beginnings  of  Japan. 
Excavations  and  documents  point  to  the  faet  that 
the  ancient  method  of  burial  in  Japan  was  first  in 
barrows  and  later  in  dolmens.  The  barrow  is 
simply  a mound  of  earth,  such  as  the  Chinese  heap 
over  their  dead.  The  dolmen  is  an  underground 
chamber  of  stone  with  the  earth  mounded  over 
it.  Now  the  interesting  point  is  that  no  dolmen 
has  hitherto  been  found  in  China  or  Korea.  In 
fact,  dolmens  like  those  we  have  in  Japan  have 
thus  far  not  been  discovered  in  any  part  of  Asia 
east  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  Western  Europe 
alone  offers  exactly  analogous  types.  Of  course, 
similarity  of  this  kind  may  be  a chance  coincidence 
and  no  more ; but  it  is,  nevertheless,  interesting  to 
learn  that  dolmens  do  not  date  from  a period 
anterior  to  the  third  century  B.c.  Can  it  be 
possible,  is  the  next  question — can  it  be  possible 
that  the  founder  of  our  Empire,  the  leader  of  the 
last  and  the  most  powerful  band  of  settlers  migrat- 
ing to  our  shores,  had  his  home — he  or  his  ances- 
tors, somewhere  in  remote  Western  Europe?  A 
caustic  querist  may*  ask, — Did  the  pre-historic 
progenitors  of  modem  Japanese  imitate  the  Euro- 
pean mode  of  sepulture?  We  shall  look  forward 
with  eagerness  to  further  revelations  w'hich  science 
may  make  to  us. 

Some  years  ago,  when  I was  in  Paris,  I had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  Professor  Hamy,  one  of  the 
greatest  craniologists  o ' the  day,  who,  as  the  result 
of  his  examination  of  several  hundred  Japanese 


90 


The  Japanese  Nation 


skulls,  told  me  that  he  had  never  found  traces  of  a 
more  extensive  miscegenation  than  in  the  Japan- 
ese. When  the  fifty  or  sixty  different  nationalities 
that  have  come  to  the  United  States  are  more 
thoroughly  amalgamated  and  make  a more  homo- 
geneous race,  his  remark  will  more  likely  apply  to 
America.  To  further  elucidate  his  opinion,  he 
added  that  “there  is  scarcely  a race  which  has  not 
contributed  to  make  the  Japanese  nation,  the 
Caucasian,  the  Mongolian,  the  Malay,  and  even, 
in  the  south,  a slight  tinge  of  Negrito  from  the 
islands  of  the  Pacific.” 

A race  so  diversified  in  its  origin  must  naturally 
present  characteristics,  physical  and  mental,  that 
are  widely  divergent.  Whether  or  not  we  can 
identify  and  caU  by  their  names  our  forefathers, 
one  by  one,  the  mere  fact  of  a great  mixture  ought 
to  be  sufficient  to  explain  the  extremes  of  tempera- 
ment, the  wide  range  of  selection,  or  what  the 
biologists  call  the  spontaneous  variation,  in  one 
word  plasticity,  by  virtue  of  which  we  adopt  with 
ease  foreign  ideas  and  institutions, — all  this  in 
spite  of  the  close  homogenei1;y  we  have  attained. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  Japan  has  been  dubbed 
topsy-turvydom.  No  less  close  an  observer  than 
Miss  Scidmore  calls  it  the  land  of  paradoxes,  in 
the  same  sense  in  which  one  of  the  latest  and  most 
careful  students  of  American  life,  Mr.  Muirhead, 
calls  this  country  a “Land  of  Contrasts.”  I 
congratulate  your  country  and  mine  on  being 
paradoxical  and  inconsistent,  for  “consistency  is, ” 


Race  and  National  CHaracteristics  91 

as  Emerson  says,  “a  hobgoblin  of  fools  and  little 
minds.  ” Where  man  is  given  a field  for  the  free 
play  of  his  mind  and  body,  what  he  does  to-day 
can  but  be  inconsistent,  in  a sense,  with  what  he 
did  yesterday  and  with  what  he  will  do  to-morrow. 
It  is  no  discredit  to  a nation  to  have  some  speci- 
mens very  different  from  the  type ; on  the  contrary, 
it  would  argue  a plentiful  lack  of  wit,  if  a whole 
people  w'ere  cast  in  a rigid  mould  of  body  and  soul. 
The  biogenetic  law  has  been  formulated  that  the 
individual  organism,  in  its  brief  period  of  life, 
repeats  the  main  stages  of  development  through 
which  the  race  has  passed.  Now,  when  a nation 
is  not  coterminous  with  a race — or,  as  the  Germans 
have  it,  when  the  people  do  not  form  a strict 
Nationalstaat  but  only  a Staatsnation — but  em- 
braces individuals  of  originally  different  races,  one 
cannot  expect  much  uniformity  in  physique  or 
intellect.  Composite  phylogenesis  will  naturally 
allow  a wide  scope  for  recapitulation.  Generalisa- 
tion is  risk>';  and  I approach  the  subject  of  our 
race  and  national  characteristics  with  fear  lest 
I may  not  be  just.  Even  as  regards  our  somatic 
features,  until  a more  exact  measure  of  the  average 
man,  L'homme  moyen  of  the  statisticians,  is  estab- 
lished, we  shall  have  to  content  ourselves  with  a 
more  or  less  indefinite  type. 

Suppose  we  could  obtain  an  average  for  the 
present  generation,  so  unstable  are  human  types 
— as  Boas,  Bolk,  and  other  ethnographers  have 
demonstrated, — that  a few  generations  hence  will 


92  XHe  Japanese  Nation 

show  a marked  difference  in  Japanese  anatomy. 
From  the  extensive  mixture  and  the  large  dynamic 
possibilities  of  anatomical  qualities,  it  has  long 
been,  and  probably  stiU  is,  no  easy  task  to  assign 
a definite  place  to  the  Japanese  in  the  general 
scheme  of  ethnic  classification.  We  used  to  be 
dumped  into  the  heap  of  linguistic  non-conformity, 
under  the  name  Turanian.  A German  ethnographer 
divides  mankind  into  day -folk  and  night-folk,  and 
finding  us  not  conformable  to  the  requirements 
for  admittance  to  either,  prepares  a special  seat 
in  the  gallery  of  the  twilight  folk  {Ddnimerungs- 
menschen).  The  Japanese,  as  they  are,  according 
to  the  carefully  compiled  table  of  Professor  Amos 
W.  Butler,  belong  to  what  he  calls  the  Sibiric 
branch  of  the  Asiatic  race,  and  with  the  Koreans 
constitute  the  Japanic  stock,  quite  apart  from  the 
Chinese,  Mongolic,  and  the  Tartaric.  Perhaps 
this  classification  is  the  most  concise. 

The  most  obvious  morphological  traits  which 
first  strike  one  in  a foreigner  are  statime  and  pig- 
mentation. We  are  a small  race — five  feet  two 
inches  being  the  general  average  height  for  men 
and  five  feet  for  women.  Although  this  is  the 
average,  there  are  many  men  who  outmeasure  six 
feet.  In  the  case  of  "wrestlers,  a height  of  six  feet 
is  not  considered  exceptional.  I may  remark  in 
this  connection  that  the  average  in  the  north  is 
decidedly  higher  than  that  in  the  south.  As 
stature  is  not  a statical  character  of  a race,  its 
increase  is  being  constantly  retarded  or  acceler- 


Race  and  National  CKaracteristics  93 

ated,  and  though  eugenics  is  not  yet  a fashion 
with  us,  there  is  shown  a decided  tendency  to- 
wards increase  of  stature  in  the  case  of  the  grow- 
ing generation,  especially  among  girls.  Without 
doubt,  this  is  due  to  gymnastic  exercises  in  the 
school,  and  to  the  fact  that  the  use  of  chairs  and 
benches  during  school-hours  permits  fuller  de- 
velopment of  the  limbs  than  does  our  national 
custom  of  sitting  with  the  leg  folded  back  from 
the  knee. 

The  limbs,  both  upper  and  lower,  are  small  and 
delicately  shaped.  The  legs  are  proportionately 
shorter  in  comparison  with  the  length  of  the  torso 
— a feature  certainly  not  beautiful.  Then,  too, 
they  are  generally  more  or  less  bowed,  perhaps 
from  the  posture  in  sitting,  or,  can  it  be  possible 
that  it  is  a characteristic  inherited  from  one  of  our 
ancestors,  the  Mongolians,  of  whom  Dr.  Hehn 
says  that  their  legs  became  bent  from  constant 
riding  on  the  steppes  of  Central  Asia ! 

The  arms,  too,  are  comparatively  short,  and 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  most  beautiful  Bud- 
dhist statues  have  arms  reaching  to  the  knee,  we 
speak  rather  disparagingly  of  long  arms,  meaning 
thereby  a propensity  to  violate  the  eighth  com- 
mandment. In  this  scant  proportion  of  trunk  and 
limbs  as  well  as  in  brachycephaly,  Havelock  Ellis 
notes  an  approach  to  the  infantile  condition  of  the 
human  species.  Lest  the  more  sensitive  of  my 
compatriots  feel  insulted  by  so  belittling  a state- 
ment as  this,  let  it  be  added  for  their  consolation 


94 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


that  the  negroes  and  Australian  savages  are 
farthest  removed  from  this  infantile  structure. 
If  the  hand,  like  the  arm,  is  also  small,  the  fingers 
are  comparatively  long  and  very  often  tapering. 
The  delicacy  of  our  hand  explains  the  dexterity 
of  our  workmanship,  a dexterity  no  doubt  en- 
hanced by  the  constant  use  of  the  brush  in  writing 
and  of  chopsticks  in  eating. 

The  pigmentation  of  the  skin  is  typically  light 
brown  with  a tinge  of  yellow,  with  variations  from 
skins  as  fair  as  that  of  any  Caucasian  to  those  as 
dark  as  a red  Indian.  If  the  skin  shows  variation 
of  hue,  the  hair  is  almost  invariably  black,  and 
the  chemical  knowledge  of  our  girls  does  not 
include  the  beautifying  value  of  peroxide  of  hydro- 
gen. I may  remark  in  passing  that  our  albino 
looks  like  an  ultra  type  of  your  blonde.  Our  hair 
is  straight,  though  quite  often  wavy,  albeit  curls 
are  not  enjoyed  by  the  possessor.  If  frizzly  hair 
is  not  abhorred,  it  is  for  the  same  reason  that 
nobody  is  afraid  of  a snake  in  Ireland.  Should 
nature  play  a prank  on  Japanese  girls  by  covering 
the  head  with  a woolly  texture,  I am  afraid  it 
would  swell  the  army  of  female  suicides.  The 
beard  and  moustache  of  the  men  are  as  a rule  not 
heavy.  The  race  as  a whole  is  the  reverse  of 
hirsute.  Occasionally  one  meets  with  people  who 
are  remarkable  for  their  hairiness,  and  this  quality 
is  ascribed  to  Ainu  blood. 

The  head  is  relatively  large,  a fact  that  is  attri- 
buted by  some,  though  I am  not  prepared  to 


Race  and  National  CHaracteristics  95 

admit  the  statement,  to  the  large  consumption  of 
fish.  The  shape  of  the  head  is  brachiocephalic, 
though  dolicocephalic  specimens  are  not  at  all  rare. 
The  eyes,  as  a rule  black,  though  frequently  light 
brown,  are  usually  smaller  than  those  of  Europeans, 
and  the  smallness  is  made  more  conspicuous  by 
puffy  eyelids  and  veiled  comers.  The  obliquity 
given  to  oirr  eyes  by  artists,  especially  in  popular 
colour  prints,  is  decidedly  exaggerated.  A curious 
belief  prevails  among  us  that  straight  eyes  and 
eyebrows,  and,  worse  still,  those  that  droop  at 
the  comers,  are  signs  of  weak  character. 

The  nasal  index  is  of  medium  degree.  Greek 
or  Roman  noses  are  not  infrequently  met  with, 
nor  is  the  Jewish  type  imfamiliar.  Especially 
among  the  lower  classes  do  we  find  very  flat 
and  broad  noses.  As  for  the  mouth  and  the  hps, 
there  is  no  one  type  that  requires  particular 
mention.  The  teeth  are  more  often  than  not 
well-formed  and  sound,  for  which  one  may  thank 
plain  living,  which  foregoes  excessive  indulgence 
in  sweets,  ice-cream,  and  beefsteak.  The  cheek- 
bones have  a decided  tendency  to  be  prominent, 
more  conspicuously  so  among  the  peasantry. 

There  are  two  facial  types,  the  long  and  the 
round,  or  the  oval  and  the  “pudding-face,”  as  it 
has  been  termed.  The  aristocracy  have  generally 
the  longer  type  of  face,  and  this  is  believed  by  good 
authorities  attributable  to  Korean  blood ; whereas 
the  “pudding-face”  may  have  been  inherited  from 
the  Malays  or  the  Ainu. 


96 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


As  regards  our  standard  of  beauty,  naturally 
it  is  not  in  every  respect  uniform  with  the  Greek 
or  the  Egyptian,  or  with  the  canons  of  the  Renais- 
sance; but  only  in  a very  few  points  are  the 
different  canons  at  direct  variance;  that  is  to  say, 
what  we  deem  beautiful  will  never  be  positively 
ugly  to  you  and  vice  versa. 

A woman,  to  be  considered  beautiful  by  us,  need 
not  be  tall.  Height  may  be  divinely  imposing, 
but  not  essential  to  human  beauty.  With  us, 
about  five  feet  would  be  considered  the  most 
desirable  height,  but  if  one  must  err,  it  is  advisable 
to  err  by  exceeding  rather  than  by  falling  short 
of  the  mark.  The  figure  should  be  slender  without 
being  bony,  the  waist  long  and  the  hips  narrow. 
To  secure  grace,  the  body  should  be  held  slightly 
forward,  not  boldly  erect.  A very  important 
feature  is  the  neck,  which  should  be  long,  white, 
slender,  and  gracefully  curved.  The  hair  should  of 
course,  be  abundant,  long,  and  perfectly  straight, 
and  while  no  deviation  from  black  is  tolerated,  it 
should  not  be  just  black,  but  should  be  so  glossy 
that  it  seems  blue-black.  The  face  should  be  oval 
and  long,  with  a straight  nose,  which  should  also 
be  high  and  narrow.  As  for  the  eyes,  opinions  are 
divided,  one  school  of  connoisseurs  demanding 
that  they  should  be  large  with  a double  line  of  the 
lid,  while  another  school  prefers  that  the  eyes 
should  be  long  and  narrow  and  slightly  slanting 
upwards  at  the  outer  comer.  The  colour  of  the 
eye  should  alw'ays  be  clear  and  deep  brown;  the 


Race  and  National  CKaracteristics  97 


lashes  thick,  long,  and  curved ; the  eyebrows  black 
and  distinct,  their  line  long,  and  well  arched;  the 
mouth  small ; lips  thin,  curved,  and  red ; teeth  small, 
regular,  and  white.  The  ears  must  be  evenly 
curved,  with  no  angle,  and  in  size  not  too  small, 
for  pinched  lobes  look  poverty  stricken.  Large 
ears,  like  those  of  the  probable  inhabitants  of 
Mars,  lately  described  by  Professor  Perrier,  if 
not  exactly  beautiful,  are  believed  to  be  lucky. 
As  for  the  shape  of  the  forehead,  there  are  four 
types.  By  the  one  termed  “homed,”  we  mean 
that  in  which  the  hair  grows  to  a point  in  the 
middle  of  the  forehead  and  high  at  the  sides  after 
the  fashion  called  by  the  Germans  Geheimraths- 
Ecke  or  the  “Councillor’s  comers.”  Then  there 
are  the  square  and  the  round  types;  but  the  fore- 
head most  admired  is  high  and  narrow  at  the  top, 
and  obliquely  slanting  at  the  sides,  suggesting  the 
outline  of  our  sacred  mountain,  Fuji. 

As  for  the  complexion,  it  should  be  fair,  with  a 
tint  of  the  rose  on  the  cheek,  only,  in  our  parlance, 
we  would  call  it  cherry-hued. 

A figure  combining  all  the  points  of  the  canon 
I have  enumerated — and  above  all  softened  by 
eternally  feminine  modesty  and  gentleness  of 
expression,  and  heightened  by  faultless  refinement, 
and  gracefulness  of  dress  and  manner — cannot  fail 
to  strike  an  alien  critic  as  pleasant,  agreeable  and 
even  charming ; and  as  his  eye  gets  more  and  more 
accustomed  to  this  type  of  beauty,  he  may  pro- 
nounce it  quite  enchanting. 


98 


The  Japanese  Nation 


It  has  often  been  remarked  by  foreigners  that 
there  are  far  more  beautiful  women  in  Japan  than 
handsome  men,  the  latter  being  a rare  article. 

From  the  general  description  of  the  physical 
characteristics  of  our  race,  you  must  have  dis- 
covered, if  you  have  not  previously  been  aware  of 
the  fact,  that  the  Japanese  are  by  no  means  a 
beautiful  race.  To  me,  an  ardent  admirer  of 
Greek  civilisation,  it  has  ever  been  a thorn  in  the 
flesh,  because  I have  always  believed  that  our 
people  will  in  the  future  achieve  the  welding  of  two 
types  of  civilisation,  as  did  the  Hellenes  in  times 
past.  WTien  I expressed  this,  my  disappointment, 
in  the  hearing  of  Dr.  Rein,  the  well-known  German 
geographer,  he  remarked; — 

“ I have  travelled  around  the  world  and  studied  dif- 
ferent peoples,  and  I will  tell  you  of  two  great  disap- 
pointments. One  was  in  Spain,  where  the  people 
.are  unusually  handsome,  but  where  I found  them 
so  incongruously  inferior  intellectually.  The  other 
experience  was  in  Japan,  where  in  secluded  moun- 
tain districts  and  among  peasants  living  an  al- 
most primitive  life,  and  extremely  unattractive  in 
their  appearance,  I found  surprising  signs  of  intelli- 
gence ; so  setting  intelligence  over  against  homeliness, 
I think  you  may  be  comforted.” 

I flatter  myself  that  the  observations  of  such 
experienced  travellers  as  Dr.  Rein  and  Professor 
Hart,  are  more  favorable  than  the  judgment 
of  a young  Frenchman  of  twenty  years,  who 


Race  and  National  CKaracteristics  99 

concluded  an  account  of  his  tour  in  Japan  with 
this  sweeping  assertion — “ Le  Japonnais  n'est  pas 
intelligent."  I know  it  is  a flagrant  breaeh  of  good 
form  for  me  to  say,  “We  are  more  elever  than  we 
look.”  Suppose  for  modesty’s  sake  I reverse  the 
proposition  and  say,  “We  look  ugher  than  we 
deserve,’’  we  revert  to  the  same  idea,  and  I may 
just  plainly  and  honestly  confess  that  we  are  well 
aware  of  our  own  strength  and  weakness,  and  are 
bent  upon  adding,  as  our  phraseology  expresses  it, 
‘ ‘ to  whatever  is  short  in  us  from  whatever  is  long 
in  others?’’  and  “to  polish  our  gems  with  stones 
quarried  in  other  lands.  ’’ 

This  brings  me  to  the  subject  of  the  mental 
traits  of  our  people,  and  in  treating  of  them  I 
shall  first  of  all  give  a very  brief  aecount  of  our 
language.  Philologically  Japanese  is  a forlorn  and 
solitary  orjDhan,  that  ean  claim  no  relationship, 
either  lateral  or  collateral,  with  any  other  lan- 
guages. Like  poor  little  Mignon  in  Wilhelm 
Meister,  its  faee  is  turned  vaguely  to  the  south 
(Malayasia?),  yearning  for  the  land  where  lemons 
bloom;  but  not  a few  scholars  have  traced  the 
trails  along  which  Japanese  travelled  from  the  foot 
of  the  Altai  Mountains.  A philological  student 
went  farther  than  that  and  tried  to  demonstrate 
the  linguistic  affinity  between  Japanese  and  Hit- 
tite;  but  in  the  present  state  of  Hittite — perhaps 
it  sounds  more  erudite  to  say  Alarodian  or  Armen- 
oid-^researehes,  we  may  just  as  well  identify  our 
language  with  that  in  whieh  the  sons  of  God  made 


lOO 


XHe  Japanese  Nation 


love  to  the  daughters  of  men,  or  even  with  that 
in  which  Adam  wrote  that  wonderful  diary  so 
faithfully  translated  into  English  by  Mark  Twain! 

Usually  Japanese  is  put  in  the  group  of  those 
agglutinative  languages  under  the  general  name  of 
Turanian.  But  among  them,  as  I have  said,  it 
stands  by  itself.  Still,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  in 
the  course  of  centuries  it  has  appropriated  words 
and  expressions  from  Korean  and  Chinese,  much 
as  the  Enghsh  tongue  has  been  enriched  by  the 
free  use  of  Norman,  Latin,  Greek,  and  what  not; 
and  just  as  you  pronounce  words  of  alien  origin  in 
your  own  way,  or  attach  new  meaning  and  value  to 
them,  so  have  w^e  also  drawn  heavily  upon  Chinese 
sources  for  a vocabulary,  pronouncing  monosyl- 
labic Chinese  words  as  suits  our  orthography. 
Moreover,  we  borrowed  Chinese  letters,  which  are 
pictographs  or  ideographs,  simply  as  signs  to 
express  the  same  ideas,  but  pronounce  them 
entirely  differently.  To  illustrate,  take  the  first 
syllable  of  my  own  name,  Ni.  In  ivriting  it,  we 
use  a certain  Chinese  character  which  every 
Chinese  will  pronounce  shin,  but  which  the  Japan- 
ese will  read  7ii.  Linguistically  there  is  no  relation 
between  shin  and  ni,  however  closely  they  may  be 
related  in  the  American  vocabulaiy^  I The  Chinese 
character  for  man  is  written  with  two  strokes  (■*■) , 
and  we  use  it  in  the  same  sense,  only  it  is  pro- 
pronounced  in  Chinese  lu7t,  and  in  Japanese 
hito.  This  rather  complicated  relationship  between 
Japanese  and  Chinese  may  be  easily  exemplified 


Ra  ce  and  National  CHaracteristics  loi 


by  the  case  of  the  Arabic  or  rather  Indian  num- 
erals. All  the  nations  of  Europe  and  now  of  the 
world  have  adopted  the  use  of  figures;  but  each 
nation  pronounces  numbers  differently.  To  take 
another  illustration,  the  Latin  abbreviation  “i.e.”  is 
freely  used  in  all  European  languages ; but  instead 
of  pronouncing  it  “id  est, ’’  the  English  read  it 
“that  is,”  the  French  “ c’est-a-dire, ” the  Ger- 
mans “das  heisst,”  &c.  This  last  abbreviation 
might  serve  as  another  good  illustration. 

One  great  drawback  in  the  use  of  Chinese 
characters  is  their  unlimited  number.  A man  of 
ordinary  education  must  be  acquainted  with  two 
or  three  thousand,  and  a dictionary  in  common  use 
gives  about  forty  to  fifty  thousand.  There  is  no 
greater  drain  or  strain  on  our  school  children  than 
to  learn  by  heart,  to  simply  memorise,  some 
thousands  of  these  characters. 

I must  add  now  that  the  Japanese,  while  they 
make  free  use  of  Chinese  ideography,  have  in- 
vented an  alphabet  of  their  own.  It  is  not  an 
alphabet  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term,  as  it  does 
not  consist  of  letters  on  the  phonetic  system.  It 
is  properly  a syllabary,  and  contains  forty-seven 
syllables  (including  the  five  vowels  which  are 
purely  phonetic)  called  i-ro-ha  from  the  first 
three  characters.  It  was  the  invention  of  an 
ingenious  Buddhist  priest  of  the  ninth  century. 

The  forty-seven  syllabic  signs  do  not  express  all 
the  sounds  in  our  language,  of  which  there  are 
about  seventy.  By  the  use  of  diacritical  marks. 


102 


XHe  Japanese  Nation 


certain  characters  are  made  to  represent  other 
but  allied  sounds.  In  the  synopsis  of  sixty-eight 
sounds  there  are  a number  which  one  greatly 
misses  when  one  attempts  to  transcribe  a European 
word.  Entirely  absent  are  the  sounds  of  /,  v,  the 
English  th,  and  the  German  ch.  In  the  case  of  I, 
we  force  r to  do  its  work,  and  as  to  v,  its  burden  is 
borne  by  b;  that  is  to  say,  only  ears  or  lips  accus- 
tomed to  English  can  distinguish  between  lime 
and  rime,  van  and  ban.  No  very  serious  issues 
are  involved  in  a schoolroom  when  a mistake  is 
made  between  vile  and  bile,  or  between  light  and 
right;  but  the  solemnity  of  a church  service  is 
dangerously  threatened  when  hallowed  is  pro- 
nounced harrowed,  or  benison,  venison.  Far  worse 
and  unpardonable  is  it,  of  course,  when  the 
errors  are  carried  into  writing  and  v-a-l-e  is  spelt 
b-a-r-e;  l-i-f-e,  r-i-f-e;  l-a-w,  r-a-w;  and  l-o-v-e, 
r-o-b-e! 

With  all  of  its  deficiencies,  disadvantages,  and 
cumbersome  syntax,  our  language  can  express,  if 
sometimes  somewhat  awkwardly,  all  the  ideas  that 
the  human  mind  anywhere  has  conceived  or  human 
heart  has  felt.  We  have  already  in  our  own  tongue 
some  of  the  works  of  Plato,  Schopenhauer,  Dar- 
win, and  Carlyle.  The  Bible  was  translated  long 
ago,  and  a new  version  has  been  attempted.  Of 
poetry,  Homer  is  partly  translated  and  also  sev- 
eral plays  of  Shakespeare,  and  quite  recently 
Faust.  Classics  are  the  common  property  of  the 
world.  They  are  masterpieces  in  any  tongue. 


Race  and  National  CHaracteristics  103 

Japanese  classics,  too,  may  be  gradually  intro- 
duced into  the  Western  world  of  letters. 

The  same  patriotism  which  makes  us  proud  of 
our  national  Hterature,  teaches  us  the  necessity  of 
learning  foreign  languages  and  of  introducing  re- 
forms in  the  written  and  spoken  vernacular.  A 
linguistic  commission  has  been  appointed  by  the 
Government ; language  teaching  has  been  improved 
in  the  schools;  English  has  been  the  principal 
study  in  high  schools;  German  is  obligatory  in 
colleges  and  imiversities ; transliteration  societies — 
whose  aim  is  to  displace  the  Chinese  ideographs  by 
adopting  Roman  script — have  been  preaching  the 
need  of  radical  reform  for  the  sake  of  the  next 
generation. 

The  spread  of  foreign  languages  and  foreign 
literature  is  synonymous  with  the  dissemination 
of  European  ideas.  Can  the  Japanese  long  bear 
the  weight  of  foreign  thought?  Can  they  really 
grasp  Western  sentiment,  not  only  understand  but 
enjoy  it  ? 

The  rich  variety  of  races  and  of  tongues  that 
have  come  to  be  our  heritage,  explains  without 
further  demonstration  our  quickness  in  adopting 
foreign  ideas  and  institutions,  and  in  adapting 
ourselves  to  changing  conditions  of  life.  This 
process  of  selective  accommodation  has  been  called 
by  various  names — imitation,  mimicry,  love  of 
novelties,  fickleness. 

Hardly  a book  is  written  by  an  outsider  without 
mention  of  Japanese  imitativeness, — often  quali- 


104  The  Japanese  Nation 

fied  with  such  an  adjective  as  blind,  apish,  ehildish, 
slavish.  The  same  criticism  is  also  expressed  in 
another  form,  namely,  lack  of  originality. 

This  characterization  of  our  mental  trait  cannot 
be  gainsaid.  If  there  were  only  two  kinds  of  men, 
the  imitative  and  the  original,  the  Japanese,  to- 
gether with  the  Greeks,  Romans,  and  Normans, 
would  certainly  belong  to  the  former.  We  bor- 
rowed (imitation  is  borrowing)  Buddhism  from 
India,  Confucianism  and  some  few  other  isms 
from  China.  Our  much  boasted  arts  are  largely 
of  continental  origin.  Our  modem  institutions 
have  been  learned  chiefly  from  the  West. 

We  take  pride  in  our  imitative  faculty.  When 
in  the  Charter  Oath  with  which  our  Emperor 
opened  his  auspicious  reign,  he  plainly  gave  out 
an  injunction  to  seek  knowledge  all  over  the  world, 
he  expressed  the  nation’s  willingness  to  follow  the 
Biblical  command — “Prove  all  things  and  hold 
to  that  which  is  good.  ’’ 

Imitation  is  education,  and  education  consists 
mainly  in  imitation.  Whether  it  turns  out  to  be 
apish  mimicry  or  not,  depends  on  the  judicious 
choice  of  the  model.  Imitation  is  voluntary  ad- 
justment persistently  followed  by  the  use  of  the 
criterion  of  fitness  or  of  utility.  It  is  essen- 
tially a power  with  which  one  subdues  all  things 
— even  one’s  own  self.  An  obscure  recluse  named 
Thomas,  in  the  small  village  of  Kempen,  made  it 
his  life-work  to  imitate  his  Master  and  we  all  know 
what  he  attained  in  holiness  and  in  literature. 


Race  and  National  CHaracteristics  105 

Moreover,  is  it  never  possible  to  excel  one’s 
master?  What  of  Raphael?  For  whether  in  re- 
ligions or  ethics,  in  art  or  Hterature,  though  they 
all  originally  came  from  China  and  India,  we 
have  transformed  them  to  our  own  taste.  We 
have  not  only  adopted  but  adapted  them.  As- 
similation of  foreign  ideas  is  impossible  imless 
the  receptive  people  are  prepared  for  them.  As 
Monsieur  Tarde  enunciates  in  one  of  his  laws  of 
imitation,  international,  collective  imitation  can 
proceed  only  from  within  outwards,  otherwise  it  is 
only  apish  mimicry.  Thus  we  console  ourselves 
in  the  charge  of  imitativeness,  accepting  it,  first, 
as  a sign  of  our  plastic,  mobile  youth ; secondly,  in 
the  hope  of  one  day  returning  with  interest  the 
capital  we  are  borrowing  at  present;  thirdly, 
because  we  have  made  of  it  a deliberate  and  organ- 
ized instrument  of  great  cultural  and  political 
efficiency. 

As  for  originality,  what  does  it  mean  any  way, 
in  the  face  of  Emerson’s  assertion  that  great  genial 
power  consists  in  not  being  original  at  all,  but 
rather  in  being  altogether  receptive  ? If  originality 
means  inventions  and  discoveries,  we  are  achiev- 
ing something  in  these  directions  too.  Our  army 
is  supphed  with  rifles  of  our  own  invention,  and 
they  have  done  some  service ; our  gun-powder  was 
invented  by  our  compatriot,  Shimos6,  and  it  has 
not  been  altogether  useless.  To  science,  too,  es- 
pecially in  bacteriology,  we  have  made  a few  con- 
tributions and  expect  to  make  more.  Grant  a 


io6 


XHe  Japanese  Nation 


little  time  to  an  imitative  child,  and  he  may  some 
day  amount  to  something. 

As  for  fickleness,  which  is  closely  connected  with 
the  imitative  faculty — being  a product  of  quick- 
ness of  perception  and  alertness  of  action — this  is 
a charge  that  can  hardly  be  brought  against  a 
people  who  have  lived  under  the  same  dynasty  for 
twenty  centuries.  There  is,  however,  some  reason 
for  taking  as  proofs  of  fickleness,  the  many  experi- 
ments w'e  have  made  in  order  to  “prove  all  things.  ’’ 
When  Luther  Burbank  takes  a hundred  new 
plants,  cultivates  them  for  a season,  compares  and 
examines  them,  and  then  throws  away  ninety- 
nine  as  unfit  for  his  use,  he  shows  intelligence,  judg- 
ment, and  decision,  but  not  fickleness.  No  one 
thinks  of  calling  a lady  who  is  always  dressed 
comme  il  faut,  a fickle  ape  for  being  modish ; and 
yet,  is  not  fashion  every  inch  imitation?  If  so, 
the  people  among  whom  fashion  changes  oftenest 
must  be  the  most  fickle.  This  may  be  one  of  the 
simplest  reasons  why  Americans  and  Japanese  are 
like-minded. 

In  seeking  the  best  from  abroad,  the  mental  trait 
which  has  served  us  most  has  been  quickness  of 
perception,  an  intuitive  recognition  of  the  fit;  for 
the  Japanese  imagination  can  sweep  a wide  (I 
dare  not  say  a deep  or  lofty)  range  of  space,  and 
discern  at  a glance  all  that  there  is  within  its  view. 
This  is  the  vision  of  the  artist,  and  the  soul  of 
woman. 

It  seems  to  me  that  there  is  at  the  bottom  of 


R.ace  and  National  CKaracteristics  107 

Japanese  character  a feminine  trait.  In  the  up- 
bringing of  a child  by  its  parents,  the  mother 
plays  a larger  part  by  far  than  does  the  father — 
much  more  so  than  in  the  West.  As  a child  grows 
up,  the  intimacy  between  him  and  his  father 
lessens  and  the  relation  between  them  assumes  a 
respectful  and  polite  distance.  Not  so  with  the 
mother.  Betw'een  her  and  the  child,  intimacy 
never  stiffens  into  formality ; she  is  ever  the  mother. 
The  child’s  soul  is  moulded  by  her  influence  and 
her  spirit,  and  it  partakes  of  feminine  qualities, 
both  good  and  bad.  The  undercurrent  of  sadness, 
of  kindliness,  of  tenderness,  of  pity,  of  compassion 
that  is  moving  deep  down  in  the  Japanese  soul 
comes  from  the  mother’s  bosom,  but  there  is 
another  undercurrent  equally  deep  and  equally 
strong — of  jealousy,  envy,  revenge,  and  vanity, 
which  should  be  traced  to  the  same  source.  These 
two  currents,  flowing  from  the  two  maternal  breasts, 
feed  the  Japanese  soul,  and  it  would  be  quite 
feminine  if  the  mother,  in  bringing  up  the  child, 
did  not  keep  before  it  for  admiration  manly  deeds 
and  virile  virtues.  The  child  whose  soul  is  moulded 
in  womanly  qualities,  is  made  to  admire  masculine 
strength.  The  result  is: — in  his  temperament  he 
remains  feminine,  but  his  character  grows  mascu- 
line. He  feels  like  a woman  and  thinks  like  a man ; 
and  when  he  acts,  his  action  is  like  a woman’s, 
when  it  is  prompted  by  temperament,  or  is  like  a 
man’s,  when  urged  to  it  by  the  force  of  his 
character. 


io8  XKe  Japanese  Nation 

This  will  explain  why  sentiment  obtains  such  a 
powerful  dynamic  inertia.  Japanese  heroism  is 
more  frequently  actuated  by  sentiment  than  im- 
pelled by  judgment  and  character.  Where  from  a 
flash  of  noble  emotion  a hundred  men  may  jump 
into  fire,  there  will  be  only  ten  who  will  bear  the 
slings  and  arrows  of  outraged  fortune,  and  only 
one  who  will  endure  taunts  and  scorn  for  the  sake 
of  his  principles. 

In  a word,  the  Japanese  is  the  child  of  his  mother, 
trained  in  the  school  of  his  father. 

Modem  psychology  has  confirmed  the  ancient 
belief  that  temperament  is  largely  a matter  of 
physiology.  The  great  rapidity  of  response  to 
external  impression,  and  the  quick  transmission  of 
nervous  impulses  among  our  people,  can  be  ex- 
plained by  neurology,  and  will  in  turn  explain 
many  a so-called  race  trait.  “The  quick  sym- 
pathy, the  wide  outlook,  the  rapid  accomplish- 
ment,” have  ever  been  the  advantages  which  a 
composite  race  has  enjoyed  over  one  of  simpler 
extraction. 

Susceptibility  to  outside  influences  is  largely 
what  makes  the  Japanese  delight  and  excel  in  art; 
for  outside  influences  in  their  surroundings  can- 
not fail  to  produce  in  the  dullest  a spark  of  love 
for  the  beautiful.  The  art  instinct  has  become 
the  subconscious  property  of  the  race.  While 
Europeans  admire  nature  and  love  to  analyse 
its  beauty,  the  Japanese,  in  their  feminine  soul, 
feel  it  and  enjoy  it  tout  ensemble.  To  us  nature  is 


R ace  and  National  CHaracteristics  109 


a complete  whole  in  itself,  and  we  make  no  attempt 
to  force  or  even  direct  our  mind  above  or  beyond 
it.  It  distracts  nature’s  child  in  his  ecstacy  to 
soar  “from  nature  up  to  nature’s  God.’’  Among 
Japanese  poets  the  water-fowl  is  a favourite  sub- 
ject of  inspiration,  and  they  feel  and  sing  much  as 
Bryant,  with  the  omission  of  the  last  stanza.  I 
am  not  comparing  Eastern  and  Western  minds 
with  a critical  or  didactic  intent,  but  only  to  show 
how  tastes — tastes  and  not  minds — differ. 

Professor  Ladd,  in  his  study  of  our  national 
psychology,  says  that  the  Japanese  temperament 
is  that  which  Lotze  has  so  happily  called  the 
“sentimental  temperament,’’  which  characterises 
youth  in  all  races,  and  is  marked  by  great  suscepti- 
bility to  a variety  of  influences,  with  a tendency 
to  a will,  impulsive  and  alas!  liable  to  collapse. 

When  I speak  of  the  alertness  with  which  our 
brains  and  nerves  work,  I do  not  say  this  alto- 
gether in  praise  of  ourselves,  for  I am  well  aware  of 
the  shortcomings  of  a quick  brain.  I know  its 
temptation  to  form  hasty  judgments,  to  become 
hypercritical,  to  be  suspicious,  to  be  affected  by 
variations  of  temper.  It  is  not  now  my  purpose 
to  justify  or  to  criticise  the  race  characteristics  of 
my  people.  All  that  I attempt  is  candidly  to 
present  what  I believe  to  be  facts.  Perhaps  our 
alertness  is  most  clearly  evinced  by  this,  that  of 
all  the  foreign  games  that  have  been  introduced  into 
Japan,  baseball  has  become  the  most  popular  sport. 
Not  only  are  we  quick  to  receive  impressions 


I lO 


XHe  Japanese  Nation 


from  without,  but  we  are  also  keen  in  observing 
things  and  events. 

Before  I leave  the  subject  of  our  art  and  sensory- 
acuity,  I must  make  mention,  however  cursory, 
of  our  music.  Years  ago,  a German  musician  of 
note  made  an  interesting  remark  that  island  life 
is  not  conducive  to  voice  or  music.  Whether  it  is 
upon  the  geographical  location  or  upon  a racial 
trait  that  we  should  lay  the  blame  for  the  stunted 
growth  of  our  music,  I am  in  no  position  to  say 
definitely.  It  is  the  branch  of  art  which  has 
developed  least  in  the  East.  It  has  been  culti- 
vated assiduously  by  the  Court  for  ceremony,  by 
religion  for  rite,  by  the  aristocracy  for  festivity, 
and  by  the  populace  for  amusement.  In  the 
Court  and  the  Shinto  shrine,  music  is  from  the 
very  nature  of  its  object,  open  to  little  change, 
and  they  are,  in  a peculiar  sense,  its  conservatory. 
But  in  the  case  of  the  aristocracy  and  more  espe- 
cially in  the  sphere  of  the  popular  ballads,  dances, 
and  recitals,  one  might  have  expected  more  prog- 
ress. As  a matter  of  fact,  Japanese  music  was 
confined  to  a few  stringed  instruments  and  flutes 
and  drums  of  all  kinds — most  of  them  of  ancient 
Chinese  origin.  The  typical  Japanese  instrument, 
invented  in  the  seventeenth  century,  is  the  thir- 
teen stringed  koto,  a sort  of  lyre,  which  is  learned 
by  every  well-bred  young  lady;  but  the  more 
plebeian  and  popular  samisen,  a banjo  introduced 
from  Manila,  is  a ubiquitous  instrument  of  three 
strings,  which  produces  a sound  characterised  by 


Race  and  National  Characteristics  iii 


Mr.  Piggott  as  “a  mixture  between  a thrumming 
afid  a tinkling,”  to  be  called  ‘‘thrinkling. ” The 
fiddle,  originally  introduced  from  India,  fills  by 
no  means  the  same  position  that  it  does  in  Europe, 
neither  does  the  hiwa,  a kind  of  guitar,  which  was 
one  of  the  earliest  instruments  that  came  into 
Japan,  in  the  tenth  century,  and  which  has  been 
the  mother  of  several  other  instruments. 

As  far  as  the  varieties  of  musical  instruments 
are  concerned,  our  people  had — say  in  the  fifteenth, 
or  perhaps  as  late  as  the  eighteenth  century — 
an  assortment  very  nearly  as  great  as  that  of  the 
Europeans.  I wonder — and  this  is  only  a crude 
surmise  of  mine — whether  the  legal  measure  which 
made  the  teaching  of  music  a monopoly,  together 
with  a few  other  social  and  economic  advantages, 
of  the  bhnd  (a  piece  of  protective  legislation  for 
this  unfortunate  class),  did  not  in  the  end  have  a 
disastrous  effect  on  the  progress  of  music,  exclud- 
ing, as  it  did,  the  possibility  of  writing  music. 
Whenever  acquired  talent  cannot  be  committed 
to  writing,  however  partially  and  poorly,  it  is 
practically  lost  to  future  generations,  and  growth 
is  arrested. 

As  to  music  proper,  I confess  my  utter  ignorance 
on  the  subject.  All  I can  do  is  to  repeat  from  the 
opinions  of  experts  that  our  scale  consists  of  only 
five  notes  of  the  harmonic  minor  scale,  the  fourth 
and  seventh  being  wanting.  What  lends  an  out- 
landish character  to  our  music  is  the  introduction 
of  a semi-tone  above  the  tonic.  IVIoreover,  there  is 


II2 


The  Japanese  Nation 


very  little  harmony.  The  whole  effect  of  our 
music  is,  therefore,  not  at  all  pleasing  to  foreign 
ears,  and  the  Japanese  themselves  are  far  from 
professing  themselves  a musical  people. 

Has  the  Japanese  then  no  music  in  himself?  Is 
he  not  “moved  with  concord  of  sweet  sounds?” 
Is  he  not,  then,  “fit  for  treasons,  stratagems,  and 
spoils, ” and  are  “the  motions  of  his  spirit  dull  as 
night  and  his  affections  dark  as  Erebus”? 

Whatever  may  be  implied  in  this  famous  aphor- 
ism, the  Oriental  moralists  from  Confucius  down 
have  always  insisted  upon  “the  concord  of  sweet 
sounds”  as  subsidiary  and  subservient  to  the 
music  in  one’s  own  self,  the  harmony  of  all  one’s 
thoughts  and  emotions  with  the  rhythmic  beat  of 
the  heart.  If  harmony,  in  the  narrower  technical 
sense,  was  but  meagrely  developed  in  our  music, 
harmony  of  sounds  on  a large  scale  was  not  passed 
unnoticed.  The  frogs  that  croak  in  the  pool,  the 
birds  warbling  among  the  swaying  boughs,  the 
insects  humming  in  the  dew^'  grass,  the  zephyr 
blowing  through  groves  of  pine,  never  failed  to 
catch  a listening  ear,  and  were  translated  into 
articulate  songs. 

Our  poetical  composition  proper,  the  uta,  con- 
sists of  only  thirty-one  syllables.  Our  long  poem 
is  an  alternating  repetition  of  long  and  short  lines 
■ — seven  and  five  syllables  each,  or  sometimes 
reversed  in  the  order  of  five  and  seven.  There  is 
even  a shorter  form  of  versification,  called  haiku, 
consisting  of  but  seventeen  syllables.  If  the  uta 


Race  and  National  CKaracteristics  113 

proper  savours  of  aristocratic  refinement,  the 
haiku  is  the  more  plebeian  and  popular  form  of 
poetic  expression.  Both  usually  take  for  their 
theme  the  simplest  natural  object  and  only  hint 
at  the  emotions  stirred  by  it. 

These  pithy,  short  lines  suggest  more  thought 
than  they  express.  They  leave  so  much  unsaid. 
The  Japanese  do  not  accept  the  definition  usually 
credited  to  Talleyrand  but  previously  used  by 
Goldsmith,*  who  himself  derived  it  from  Dr. 
Young,  that  “speech  is  a means  of  concealing 
thought”;  but  I admit  that  they  do  not  wholly 
comply  with  the  usual  English  definition  that  it 
“is  a means  of  expressing  thought”;  for  among  us 
the  highest  use  of  speech  is  to  evoke  thought. 
Ars  est  cclare  artem — “True  art  is  to  conceal  art ” ; 
to  which  one  ought  to  add — “and  explicitly  or 
implicitly  to  reveal  truth.”  In  our  drama,  for 
instance,  a Hamlet  would  not  take  the  trouble 
to  make  a long  soliloquy,  but  would  let  his  audi- 
ence have  a glimpse  of  his  soul  struggle  by  a few 
suggestive  phrases. 

A suspicion  may  have  arisen  in  your  mind  that 
speech  and  language  may  not  have  developed 
sufficiently  among  us  to  express  deepest  thoughts 
and  emotions.  I have  already  stated  that  some 
of  the  greatest  works  in  European  languages  have 
been  translated  into  our  tongue. 

' Goldsmith’s  Essay  on  the  Use  of  Language:  "...  the  true 
use  of  speech  is  not  so  much  to  express  our  wants  as  to  conceal 
them.  ” 


8 


1 14  The  Japanese  Nation 

Yet,  I admit,  though  with  reluctance,  that  our 
thought-world  — our  word- world  — suffers  from 
paucity  of  great  ideas.  I have  said  in  a former 
lecture  that  our  leading  ideas  are  importations — 
Buddhism  from  India,  Confucianism  from  China. 
So  it  is  with  literature  and  philosophy.  I do  not 
think  that  we  are  of  the  stuff  of  which  great  meta- 
physicians and  philosophers  are  made.  Our  minds 
are  too  practical  and  terrestrial.  As  for  myself — 
and  my  patriotic  countrymen  will  not  thank  me 
for  my  plain  speaking — I doubt  very  much  whether 
we  shall  make  any  notable  contributions  to  world- 
literature  in  the  next  generation  or  two ; but  in  the 
domain,  the  ever  widening  domain,  of  scientific 
researches  and  attainments,  we  may  stand  on 
equal  terms  with  the  most  advanced  peoples  of 
the  world. 

As  he  is  his  mother’s  son,  though  disciplined  by 
his  father,  so  is  the  Japanese  an  Oriental,  fortified 
in  sentiment  with  the  conviction  of  an  Occidental. 
Poetry  lurks  within  him  to  burst  forth  when  feeling 
is  stirred;  but  prose  controls  his  daily  round  of 
care.  He  attends  to  the  menial  chores  of  the 
shrines  sacred  to  the  Muses.  Have  you  seen  those 
quiescent  volcanoes  that  abound  in  the  land,  with 
fire  hidden  in  their  bosom;  the  peasants  tilling 
the  terraces  and  the  very  crater  itself,  to  raise 
kitchen  vegetables?  How  unbecoming  and  incon- 
gruous! If  in  a museum  of  folk-psychology,  the 
different  races  were  arranged  in  two  opposing 
groups,  of  which  one  is  theoretical,  religious,  emo- 


Race  and  National  CHaracteristics  115 

tional,  communistic,  and  the  other  practical,  scien- 
tific, intellectual,  individual,  and  if  the  two  groups 
were  respectively  labelled  Eastern  and  Western, 
the  Japanese  should  be  classed  with  the  latter, 
perhaps  on  the  same  shelf  with  the  Italians  and 
Austrians. 

I beheve  that  our  plasticity  is  such  that  we  can 
understand  the  West  as  we  do  the  East,  and  can 
sympathise  with  both.  Emotionally  and  tradi- 
tionally allied  to  the  latter,  by  intelligence  and 
conviction  we  belong  to  the  former.  Now  and 
then  we  hear  of  anti-foreign  feehngs;  but  if  their 
sight  and  sotmd  deceive  me  not,  they  are  simply  a 
phase  of  contra-imitation,  which  always  accom- 
panies social  transformation. 

The  occidentalisation  of  Japan  is  a process 
psychological  and  ethological,  as  well  as  social  and 
political.  And  as  Monsieur  Tarde  has  pointed  out, 
the  permeation  of  society  by  foreign  ideas  works 
from  the  upper  to  the  lower  classes.  Before  com- 
munity of  sentiment  can  become  general  between 
the  East  and  the  West,  the  intellectual  leaders 
must  own  to  a common  brotherhood.  The  light  of 
science  and  of  advanced  ideas,  as  it  rises  above  the 
dim  horizon,  will  first  gild  the  highest  peaks,  and 
only  as  it  illumines  the  plains,  will  the  toilers  in  the 
fields  recognise  each  other  face  to  face.  If  the  full 
dawn  has  not  yet  enlightened  our  peasant  and  your 
labourer,  it  behooves  us  to  whom  the  early  beams 
of  the  morning  have  brought  clearer  vision,  to  open 
the  way  for  better  understanding  and  a closer  bond. 


CHAPTER  V 

RELIGIOUS  BELIEFS 

IN  view  of  the  endless  field  of  inquiry  which  the 
varying  and  conflicting  definitions  of  religion 
will  open,  I shall  start  in  the  present  lecture  with 
my  own  rough  notions  of  religion,  which  are  put 
forth  not  for  general  acceptance,  but  solely  to 
delimit  the  sphere  of  my  discourse. 

What  man  believes  concerning  his  existence 
beyond  this  life,  be  it  in  the  future  or  in  the  past, 
constitutes  his  faith,  and  what  he  does  as  corolla- 
ries of  his  faith — especially  in  the  act  of  worship 
— constitutes  his  religion.  If  his  belief  is  contra- 
dicted by  positive  science,  it  is  called  supersti- 
tion. A man  may  have  some  faith,  with  which, 
however,  he  may  mix  more  superstition.  Rarely 
do  we  meet  one  who  is  wholly  and  only  supersti- 
tious, for  his  superstition  is  usually  a more  or  less 
logical  inference  of  his  faith.  Superstitions  do  not 
stand  on  their  own  feet,  for  they  have  no  feet  of 
their  own;  hence,  in  order  to  stand  at  all,  they 
must  borrow  the  pedestal  of  faith.  And  the  very 
reason  w^hy  superstitions  are  so  general  and  hard 

Ii6 


Religious  Beliefs  117 

to  fight  is,  because  they  are  not  “a  lie  which  is  all 
a he”  but  ‘‘a  lie  which  is  part  a truth.”  I have 
omitted  from  my  concept  of  religion  the  behef  in 
an  infinite  God,  or  in  divine  revelation, — doctrines 
usually  considered  to  be  necessary  postulates  of  a 
religious  faith. 

In  the  sense  I have  above  indicated,  the  Japanese 
are  by  nature  a highly  religious  people. 

In  a previous  lecture,  I dilated  at  some  length  on 
the  artistic  temperament  of  our  people.  The 
sense  of  beauty  extended  horizontally  generates 
art,  and  the  same  sense  projected  upwards  paints 
and  carves  a religion.  When  I speak  of  my  people 
as  deeply  imbued  with  a religious  sentiment,  please 
note  that  I lay  particular  stress  on  the  term  senti- 
ment. They  are  sentimental  and  artistic,  and 
among  their  higher  sentiments  and  elevated  tastes 
are  a religious  taste  and  sentiment.  This  is  far 
from  saying  that  they  are  so  swayed  by  religion 
that  their  very  sentiments  and  tastes  are  governed 
by  it.  Our  zeal  will  not  manifest  itself  in  the  same 
manner  as  it  does  among  the  Jews  and  the  Span- 
iards, the  Hindus  or  the  Arabs.  We  are  too  matter- 
of-fact  in  our  every-day  life  to  become  zealots; 
but  should  persecutions  arise,  martyrdom  would 
be  hailed  in  heroism  rather  than  in  faith,  and  death 
courted  as  an  honourable  exit  from  this  life  rather 
than  as  an  entrance  to  the  next. 

Being  largely  of  the  nature  of  sentiment,  the 
creed  of  the  Japanese  is  incapable  of  concise  state- 
ment. There  are  religions,  more  properly  religious 


ii8  TKe  Japanese  Nation 

systems,  whose  articles  of  faith  are  reduced  to 
clear-cut  phrases  in  black  and  white,  on  vellum 
and  bound  wdth  gilt-edge,  still  leaving  ample  room 
for  divines  to  dispute  about  them.  Can  any  arti- 
cles of  faith  make  up  a rehgion?  Certainly  a cut- 
and-dried  theology  is  not  faith.  Are  there  not  in 
the  very  nature  of  a religious  faith  mystery  and 
vagueness,  or  is  this  only  so  in  the  primitive  forms 
of  belief? 

The  Japanese  conception  of  religion  is  clear  in 
spots,  but  generally  vague.  It  begins  in  instinct, 
gains  volume  by  sentiment,  and  grows  in  strength 
by  emotion.  “First  guessed  by  faint  auroral 
flushes  sent  along  the  w^avering  vista  of  his  dream,  ” 
the  Japanese  draws  nearer  to  his  theme  of  the 
hereafter,  not  by  power  of  intellect  but  by  intensi- 
fying his  emotions  and  calling  for  aid  upon  his 
personal  sensibilities.  The  race  feels  deep  down 
in  its  consciousness  that  sublunary  existence  is  not 
the  whole  of  life.  Indeed,  this  belief  is  so  in- 
grained in  us  that  it  has  become  a mental  habit 
which  asks  for  no  demonstration — a subconscious 
faith  which  no  materialism  can  destroy. 

It  is  true  we  have  failed  to  formulate  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul  in  terms  of  philosophy  or  science. 
Nevertheless,  instinctively  do  we  believe — ^be  it 
only  in  that  impersonal  way  which  in  the  Buddhist 
philosophy  is  known  as  Karma — that  the  dead 
are  alive,  and  that  the  living  are  not  mere  dust 
destined  to  return  to  dust;  but  because  we  have 
not  elucidated  this  faith  into  a rigid  doctrine,  we 


Religiovis  Beliefs  119 

are  said  to  be  irreligious,  and  we  ourselves  not 
only  admit  the  charge,  but  the  so-called  advanced 
thinkers  among  iis  rather  pride  themselves  upon 
it, — hence  the  impression  that  agnosticism  is  the 
prevailing  attitude  of  the  educated  Japanese  mind. 
Ask  the  most  advanced  “agnostic”  among  us  if  he 
entertains  no  belief  in  a future  life.  His  character- 
istic reply  will  be,  “I  do  not  know,”  by  which  he 
means,  “I  cannot  prove  it.”  But  watch  him  as 
he  stands  by  his  parents’  tomb,  or  as  he  throws  the 
clod  into  the  grave  at  the  funeral  of  his  friend; 
his  inborn  faith  crops  out  in  words  or  deeds,  attest- 
ing that  in  the  night  ‘ ‘ the  stars  shine  through  his 
cypress- trees,”  and  that  he  “looks  to  see  the  break- 
ing day  across  the  mournful  marbles  play.  ” The 
most  scientific  will  not  dream  of  peeping  into  the 
tomb  of  his  father  or  “ botanising  upon  his  mother’s 
grave.”  Nor  is  it  only  in  hours  of  sorrow  that 
his  faith  gleams  through  the  darkness.  At  times 
of  rejoicing  his  mind  fondly  turns  to  the  absent 
from  earth,  and  hears  their  glad  response  to  his 
joy.  He  feels  his  life  bound  to  all  life,  past, 
present,  or  future.  He  believes  as  Savage  did,  that 
he  had  his  birth  when  the  stars  were  bom  in  the 
dim  aeons  of  the  past,  and  that  his  cradle  was 
rocked  by  cosmic  forces. 

Of  the  many  religious  systems  which  either 
sprouted  in  Japanese  soil  or  were  transplanted 
therein,  three  attained  national  importance.  These 
are  Shinto,  Buddhism,  and,  later,  Christianity.  I 
exclude  Confucianism  from  the  list  of  religions, 


120 


The  Japanese  Nation 


since  it  is  silent  on  the  question  of  life  beyond  this 
world.  As  to  Taoism,  it  found  only  a very  small 
following.  Zoroaster  and  Mohammed  found  none. 

In  the  present  lecture,  I shall  occupy  myself 
mainly — almost  exclusively — with  Shinto;  first, 
because  it  is  a cult  strictly  native  to  the  race,  and 
secondly,  because  it  is  so  little  known  outside  of 
Japan.  As  for  Buddhism,  I have  had  occasion  to 
speak  of  its  introduction  and  progress  in  Japan, 
and  of  its  great  social  and  political  importance. 
As  a religious  system  it  transcends  the  boundaries 
of  Japan,  and  I take  it  for  granted  that  you  are 
familiar  with  its  general  features;  therefore  I 
shall  only  call  your  attention  to  one  or  two  phases 
of  its  doctrines  which  are  of  special  interest  to 
Westerners. 

Of  Christianity,  too,  I have  had  occasion  to 
speak; — how  it  was  first  introduced  and  how  it 
was  practically  eradicated.  Between  Christianity 
as  propagated  by  the  immediate  followers  of 
Xavier,  and  Christianity  as  taught  anew  by 
Protestant  missionaries,  there  is  no  historical  con- 
tinuity in  our  land.  Even  at  present  Christianity 
is  only  tolerated  in  Japan,  and  not  publicly  recog- 
nised as  are  Shinto  and  Buddhism.  The  Imperial 
Constitution,  however,  secures  religious  freedom 
to  all,  and  no  believer  in  any  religion  is  molested 
in  the  observance  of  his  faith.  At  the  present 
time,  while  I am  giving  these  lectures  in  America, 
there  is  a significant  project  afloat  at  home.  The 
Vice-minister  of  Home  Affairs,  by  conviction  a 


Religioxis  Beliefs 


I2I 


faithful  Buddhist,  and  a man  of  large  heart  and  of 
wide  outlook,  has  launched  the  idea — which  he 
wishes  to  materialise  into  a legal  or  administrative 
measure — of  bestowing  upon  Christianity  govern- 
ment recognition,  and,  by  thus  elevating  its 
worldly  status,  to  win  for  it  an  equal  place  in 
the  respect  of  the  nation. 

The  importance  of  Shinto  is  due  primarily  to 
the  fact  that  it  is  in  its  essence  strictly  indigenous, 
and  that  it  comprehends  more  than  a religious 
faith,  as  this  is  usually  understood.  Shinto  may 
be  called  a compact  bundle  of  the  primitive  in- 
stincts of  our  race.  All  religion  is  conservative; 
but  in  the  case  of  Shinto,  this  loyalty  to  the  past 
has  more  truly  than  in  the  religious  life  of  ancient 
Rome,  so  philosophically  depicted  by  Mr.  Jesse 
B.  Carter,  “developed  from  the  status  of  an  ac- 
cidental attribute  into  that  of  an  essential  quality, 
and  became  by  degrees  almost  the  sum-total  of 
religion.”  Koku-fu,  the  old  custom  of  the  land, 
has  as  much  power  as  the  mos  majorum  among 
the  Romans,  and  Shinto  is  the  most  faithful 
guardian  and  guard  of  our  ancient  traditions, 
keeping  intact  even  their  defunct  doctrines  and 
effete  usages — not  always  in  the  cold  scientific 
spirit  of  preservation,  but  often  enough  in  reac- 
tionary zeal  against  modem  progress. 

Another  reason  for  the  importance  of  Shinto  lies 
in  the  fact  of  its  being  the  religion  of  the  reigning 
house.  Its  tenets  mn  through  all  the  chief  rites 
and  rituals  of  the  Court.  It  was,  indeed,  in 


122 


XHe  Japanese  Nation 


earliest  times  the  act  of  government  itself.  To 
govern  and  to  worship  are  etymologically  synony- 
mous— Matsurigoto  meaning  either.  Numerically, 
too,  Shinto  assumes  vast  importance,  not  that  it 
has  a large  following,  for  it  is  impossible  to  coimt 
the  number  of  its  adherents,  but  because  of  some 
sixteen  thousand  shrines,  great  and  small,  national 
and  local,  and  because  of  some  fifteen  thousand 
ministrants  distributed  throughout  the  country 
under  a dozen  or  more  sects. 

The  name  Shinto,  literally  the  Way  of  the  Gods, 
or  the  divine  doctrine,  is  in  its  derivation  Chinese, 
and  was  first  appHed  in  Japan,  in  an  historical 
compilation  of  720  A.D.,  to  the  native  cult,  in 
contradistinction  to  Buddhism  and  Confucianism; 
but  the  term  itself  is  of  a much  older  date.  In  the 
broad  sense  of  the  ways  of  heaven  or  of  nature, 
or  in  its  more  restricted  moral  significance  of  the 
righteous  path,  or  in  the  philosophical  meaning  of  a 
divine  dispensation,  it  was  used  by  Confucius  him- 
self thirteen  centuries  before  its  adoption  amongst 
us.  Prior  to  the  introduction  of  this  appellation, 
our  simple  faith  was  known  as  Kami-Nagara,  a 
word  which  defies  exact  translation,  since  the  first 
of  the  component  terms,  Kami,  commonly  ren- 
dered god  or  deity,  fails  to  convey  the  meaning 
originally  attached  to  it;  and  as  to  the  second 
term,  Nagara,  which  literally  consists  of  yiaku  and 
aru,  “to  be  and  not  to  be,”  and  which  can  be 
approximately  rendered  “being  like  gods’’  or 
“being  in  a state  of  godhood,  ’’  implies  the  original 


Religiovis  Beliefs 


123 


innocence  of  man.  For  though  human  life  is 
generally  conceived  as  a struggle  between  the 
dual  natures  of  good  and  evil,  between  “the  good 
which  I would  and  which  I do  not,  and  the  evil 
which  I would  not  and  which  I practise,”  as  Saint 
Paul  complained,  godlike  {Kami-Nagara)  par- 
takers of  the  divine  natme  differ  from  ordinary^ 
mortals  in  that  they  cannot  forsake  the  path  of 
wisdom  and  righteousness  as  long  as  they  keep 
true  to  their  own  nature.  To  borrow  the  ancient 
Japanese  words,  men  and  women  are  hiko  and 
Iiime, — hterally,  sons  and  daughters  of  light.  The 
focus  of  the  Shinto  faith  lies  in  the  doctrine  of 
Kami.  This  term  has  no  exact  equivalent  in  Eng- 
lish. As  far  as  I can  translate  it,  it  lies  between 
super-man  and  superhuman  being.  Every  crea- 
ture, at  the  instant  of  departure  from  this  life,  is 
freed  from  the  trammels  which  the  flesh  imposes 
upon  the  spirit,  and  thereupon  attains  an  existence 
which  is  superior  to  that  of  the  ordinary  mortal, 
but  which  is  stiU  not  quite  divine.  If  I do  not 
err,  Kami  is  the  quintessence  of  all  being — animate 
or  inanimate,  as  I shall  have  repeated  occasion  to 
testify.  Shinto  is  hylozoism  or  rather  panpsy- 
chism, Kami,  being  the  psyche,  which  manifests 
itself  in  every  form  and  force  of  nature. 

Shinto  has  no  sympathy  with  the  doctrine  of 
original  sin  and,  therefore,  with  the  fall  of  man. 
It  has  implicit  faith  in  the  innate  purity  of  the 
human  soul.  Like  George  Fox,  it  believes  in  the 
existence  of  the  inner  light,  the  divine  seed,  but 


124 


TKe  Japanese  Nation 


not  going  farther  or  deeper,  it  stops  where  Mat- 
thew Arnold  stops,  by  teaching  that  sweetness  and 
light  are  not  only  a normal  but  an  ideal  condition 
to  strive  after.  In  fact,  Shinto  did  not  teach  us 
to  pray  for  forgiveness  of  sins,  but  for  the  sweet 
things  of  this  life,  for  happiness  but  not  for  blessed- 
ness. The  Hebrew  conception  of  sin  hardly  exists. 
Evil  is  identified  with  defilement,  something  for- 
eign to  the  soul;  for  as  to  the  soul  itself,  it  cannot 
partake  of  evil.  Light  cannot  lose  its  native 
purity,  however  far  it  may  be  deflected  in  its 
course  by  an  opaque  barrier  or  refracted  by  a 
prism;  but  its  real  nature  remains  im changed,  in- 
tact. So  with  the  children  of  the  gods — remind- 
ing us  of  the  words  of  St.  John:  “Whoever  is 
begotten  of  God,  doeth  no  sin,  because  his  seed 
abideth  in  him,  and  he  cannot  sin,  because  he  is 
begotten  of  God.  ” 

Emphasise  as  best  he  may  the  diviner  element 
in  our  nature,  the  most  consistent  Shintoist  can- 
not be  blind  to  its  weaker  side,  and  the  deeper  he 
probes  into  his  own  heart,  the  clearer  grows  his  dis- 
covery how  far  short  of  godlike  purity  his  thought 
and  practice  fall.  Like  the  old  Stoic,  he  may  men- 
tally deny  the  existence  of  sin,  but  from  personal 
experience  he  is  forced  to  admit  its  reality.  He 
may  refuse  to  dub  it  a sin;  he  may  call  it  an  im- 
purity. Whatever  the  nomenclature,  he  cannot 
escape  the  tmcomfortable  feeling  of  a child  who  has 
told  a story.  As  there  is  no  third  party, — say  a 
wrathful  god  to  propitiate,  or  a redeemer  to  atone. 


Relig'ious  Beliefs 


125 


and  as  the  evil  in  his  mind  is  only  an  accident,  so 
to  speak, — the  problem  which  lies  before  him  is 
easy  of  solution.  He  can  of  his  own  accord  blow  it 
off  {harai)  like  dust,  or  wash  it  off  (jnisogi)  like  a 
stain,  and  regain  purity.  A hymn  says : 

“Pure  be  heaven, 

Pure  be  earth, 

Pure  be  within,  without, 

And  the  six  roots.” 

By  the  six  roots  are  meant  the  five  organs  of  sense 
and  the  heart  as  the  organ  of  feeling.  A religion 
which  takes  such  slight  cognisance  of  the  gravity 
of  evil  and  sin,  and  which  accepts  the  facts  of 
mortal  life  as  divinely  ordered,  can  easily  dispense 
with  any  elaborate  theology  or  a stringent  moral 
code.  A groaning  Hebraism  is  out  of  the  question, 
but  a smiling  Hellenism  is  in  place.  There  is  self- 
contentment  in  Shinto.  How  can  it  be  otherwise 
when  death  itself  is  conceived  of  as  deification, 
and  when  nature — all  its  destructive  forces  not 
excluded — is  thought  to  be  working  for  us? 

That  the  dead  are  alive  somehow  and  some- 
where, is  the  strongest  faith  of  our  people,  and  as 
long  as  science  does  not  prove  such  a belief  to  be 
contrary  to  its  discoveries  and  teachings,  ancestor- 
worship  is  not  to  be  deemed  a superstition. 
Illatively  of  this  belief,  we  revere  and  venerate 
their  memory.  We  do  not  carve  their  images  as 
idols;  we  do  not  carry  their  remains  as  charms. 
Their  words  of  wisdom  we  hoard  in  the  secret 


126  XHe  Japanese  Nation 

chambers  of  our  heart ; and  their  good  deeds  done 
in  the  body  we  bear  in  reverent  remembrance. 
Maeterlinck  is  teaching  this  skeptical  generation 
that  the  dead  are  not  gone  as  long  as  we  think  of 
them,  and  that  as  oft  as  we  remember  them,  they 
rise  from  their  graves.  Our  custom  of  observing 
the  anniversaries  of  the  day  upon  which  our  dead 
left  us,  instead  of  their  birthdays,  should  meet 
with  approval  from  the  Belgian  idealist. 

There  are  a few  phases  of  our  ancestor-worship 
the  significance  of  which  is  little  regarded  by  the 
West.  Christian  Europe  would  be  scandalised 
to  be  told  that  its  religion  is  ancestor-w'orship, 
and  yet  between  Christianity  and  the  cult  of 
forebears,  there  is  a strong  link  of  human  interest, 
which  fondly  traces  one’s  existence  to  his  parents 
and  thence  again  to  their  progenitors,  and  so  leads 
ever  upward,  ascending  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion, only  to  find  rest  in  accepting  as  its  ultimate 
source  the  Ancient  of  Days. 

I am  far  from  identifying  the  Shinto  with  the 
Christian  or  Jewish  faith,  but  the  idea  of  ancestor- 
worship,  if  consistently  practised,  wiU  approach 
the  Christian  doctrine  of  immortality,  and  the 
Jewish  conception  of  monotheism.  Even  if  Shinto 
fails  to  grasp  the  belief  in  a spiritual  Father,  it  can 
be  seen  what  a force  it  must  have  accumulated  by 
constant  recurrence  to  the  dead  and  the  past.  To 
quote  Schiller,-^"  Didst  thou  wish  for  an  immor- 
tal life?  Live  in  the  Whole!  And  if  thou  stay’ st 
long  in  it,  it  will  stay.”  With  the  thought  oft 


Religioxas  Beliefs 


127 


intent  upon  those  who  preceded  us  and  living  with 
them  in  long-past  years,  one  attains  something  of 
past  eternity  and  of  previous  existence — and  so, 
dwelling  in  contemplation  or  veneration  of  the 
“Whole  of  existence,”  he  comes  to  a foretaste 
of  future  immortality. 

When  Christ,  wishing  to  lay  stress  on  their  duty 
to  the  living,  enjoined  His  disciples  to  “Let  the 
dead  bury  their  dead,”  He  did  not  intend  to  dis- 
courage a reverence  for  ancestors,  for  in  His  eyes 
there  could  be  no  dead  to  be  buried. 

Our  veneration  of  the  dead  (whatever  its  origin) 
is  something  far  removed  from  the  primitive  fear 
of  ghosts.  Neither  is  it  a peculiar  weakness  of  the 
East;  for  the  West  shares  the  same  feeling,  and 
however  feeble  an  influence  at  present,  you  must 
admit  that  the  ideal  of  Anglo-Saxon  knighthood. 
Sir  Galahad,  the  purest  character  in  English  litera- 
ture, is  represented  as  having  his  thought  con- 
stantly fixed  on  his  ancestor  and  the  spirit  of 
Joseph  of  Arimathea  as  ever  guarding  and  guiding 
him. 

There  stands  on  the  Kudan  Hill  in  Tokyo  a 
shrine  dedicated  to  the  memory  of  those  who  have 
died  for  the  country.  The  living  have  conse- 
crated this  ground  to  the  dead.  Here  are  inscribed 
on  sacred  rolls  the  names  of  those  who  fell  on  the 
battle-field, — from  the  humblest  foot-soldier  to  the 
greatest  commander.  Here  they  are,  as  it  were, 
canonised,  deified.  They  are  immortalised  and  ele- 
vated in  the  holy  of  holies  of  the  nation’s  memory. 


128 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


Some  of  you  may  have  seen  and  heard,  as  I have 
seen  and  heard,  a widow  leading  her  child  there 
and  reverentially  instructing  it  that  its  father’s 
spirit  surely,  though  invisibly,  dwells  in  this 
place.  More  than  this! — I have  heard  her  say, 
“Look  well!  He  is  there.  Do  you  not  see  him?” 

We  may  characterise  Shinto  as  a religion  of  sug- 
gestion by  introspection.  Instead  of  formulating 
a creed,  it  leaves  to  each  worshipper  the  formulation 
of  his  own  creed  and  so  has  this  advantage,  that 
no  obstacle  is  placed  in  the  way  of  individual  inter- 
pretation. From  the  field  that  lies  before  him, 
limitless  and  unlimited,  each  may  cull  whatever 
flower  his  fancy  loves  and  carry  it  in  his  bosom; 
hence  there  is  no  danger  of  believing  by  proxy. 

Shinto  only  furnishes  a condition  for  worship,  and 
displays  extraordinary  simpHcity  in  the  furnishings 
of  its  shrines.  These  are  the  plainest  of  wooden 
structures,  of  an  ancient  form  of  architecture, 
unpainted  and  imdecorated,  usually  in  the  shade  of 
cryptomeria  groves — groves  which  as  Bryant  sings 
“were  God’s  first  temples.”  The  silent  trees  at 
once  whisper  of  the  crowding  millenniums  that 
have  flowm  in  mutest  throng.  The  worshipper  feels 
his  life  but  a moment  in  the  endless  horologue  of 
the  universe,  but  not  the  less  an  integral  part  of 
the  vast  scheme,  which  without  him  wotdd  be  in- 
complete. A real  Shintoist  should  feel  at  once 
his  greatness  and  his  littleness,  that  he  is  but  a 
fleeting  shadow  and  yet  not  the  less  a god. 

Nothing  is  more  striking  or  more  disappointing 


Religious  Beliefs 


129 


to  the  tourist  in  Japan  than  to  visit  the  great 
temple  at  Yamada  in  Ise,  the  temple  of  the  sun- 
goddess,  who  is  reputed  to  be  the  ancestress  of 
our  royal  family.  As  an  American  tourist  once 
said:  “There  is  nothing  to  see  in  Yamada,  and 
what  there  is  to  see,  is  not  to  be  seen.’’  It  may 
be  interesting  in  this  connection  to  cite  an  English 
authority  on  the  history  of  Greek  art,  who  told  me 
that  without  a visit  to  the  court  of  a Shinto  shrine 
one  cannot  clearly  understand  an  ancient  Greek 
temple-ground. 

Teaching  the  worshipper  not  to  rely  upon  visible 
objects  of  worship,  but  to  place  himself  in  surround- 
ings conducive  to  contemplation,  an  ancient  Shinto 
oracle  says,  “When  the  sky  is  clear  and  the  wind 
hums  in  the  fir  trees,  ’tis  the  heart  of  a god  who 
thus  reveals  himself.’’  This  sounds  like  pan- 
entheism,  yet  so  far  removed  is  it  from  panenthe- 
ism  that  it  can  at  best  be  called  pantheism.  An 
old  Buddhist  poet  put  into  verse  the  sentiment 
aroused  by  a visit  to  Ise; 

“ I know  not  who  dwelleth  in  these  precincts, 

But  my  eyes  overflow  with  tears  of  gratitude.’’ 

As  you  enter  a shrine,  you  see  scarcely  any  in- 
strument of  worship,  a mirror  being  the  chief  object 
to  attract  notice.  “Behold  thy  image,’’  the  oracle 
seems  to  whisper  as  you  stand  before  the  shrine, 
“Behold  thy  own  image  as  reflected  in  the  mirror, 
and  know  for  thyself  how  it  fares  with  thee!’’ 


130  The  J apanese  Nation 

Thus  left  to  contemplate  nature  and  to  ref  ect 
upon  self,  one  comes  to  a monistic  conception  of 
the  universe  and  of  life.  “There  are  moments 
in  life,”  says  Schiller,  “when  we  feel  like  pressing 
to  our  bosom  every  stone,  every  far-off  distant 
star,  every  worm,  and  every  conceivable  higher 
spirit, — to  embrace  the  entire  universe  like  our 
loved  one.  . . . Then  does  the  whole  creation 
melt  into  a personality.” 

In  this  exalted,  spiritual  mood,  Schiller  is  a 
Shintoist  at  his  best;  or,  with  a fifteenth  century 
countryman  of  his,  Nicholas  of  Cusa,  he  would 
find  in  all  forms  of  existence  “a  divine  grain  of 
seed  which  carries  within  it  the  original  patterns 
of  all  things.”  Shintoists  believe  with  Nicholas 
that  in  all  that  is,  God  (Kami)  is  omnipresent; 
but  I doubt  whether  they  could  follow  him  in  the 
next  assertion,  “All  that  is,  is  in  God.”  I doubt, 
indeed,  whether  they  could  even  say,  “All  that 
is,  is  God.”  In  the  cosmogonic  myth  of  Shinto, 
which  I casually  mentioned  when  speaking  of  the 
early  times  of  our  history,  you  must  have  noticed 
that  it  owns  no  creator — no  creatio  ex  nihilo;  for 
whatever  was  produced,  be  it  an  island  or  a plant, 
a worm  or  a star,  it  was  generated.  All  things  are 
begotten  of  gods,  not  made.  The  world  and  all 
therein  is,  partakes,  therefore,  of  the  same  nature 
as  the  procreator.  Not  only  the  flow'er  but  the 
crannied  wall,  not  only  the  sea  but  its  denizens, 
and  the  pebbles  on  its  beach,  are  our  brothers 
and  sisters,  and  therefore  equally  Kami.  In  this 


Religioxjs  Beliefs  131 

hylopathic  plan,  little  distinction  is  recognised 
between  natura  natiir^ta  and  natura  naturens. 

Shinto  is  a religion  without  a founder,  without 
theology,  and  without  scriptures.  The  absence  of 
the  first  deprives  it  of  that  ardent,  personal  affec- 
tion and  fidehty  found  in  the  great  religions, 
though  the  deficiency  is  made  up  in  a measure,  as 
in  Greek  and  Roman  mythologies,  by  distributing 
reverence  among  a host  of  deities  and  by  includ- 
ing our  own  ancestors  among  them.  We  speak  of 
the  eighty  myriad  deities  of  the  Shinto  pantheon, 
and  they  range  from  the  most  insignificant  gods 
w'hom  pious  spinsters  respect  as  the  spirits  of 
sew'ing-needles  or  those  to  w'hom  kitchen  maids  do 
homage  as  residing  in  the  furnace,  up  to  those  that 
roar  in  thunder  or  shine  in  lightning  or  ride  upon 
the  whirl w'ind;  from  those  who  make  love  in  the 
budding  flower  or  in  the  tender  evening  star,  up 
to  those  w’ho  illumine  the  wwld  in  the  moon  and 
the  sun.  Thus  Shinto  is  the  most  polytheistic  of 
polytheisms  and  its  popular  pantheon  is  filled  wdth 
gods  that  dw'ell  in  or  preside  over  every  object  and 
phenomenon  of  which  you  can  think,  and  is  farther 
replenished  by  additions  of  apotheosised  men. 
The  Shinto  heaven  is  peopled  wdth  all  the  personi- 
fied forces  of  nature ; the  Shinto  shrine  is  a reposi- 
tory of  every  sacred  memory.  A remarkable 
feature  of  these  Kami  is  that  only  a few  of  them 
have  any  definite  shape  ascribed  to  them.  I have 
spoken  above  of  the  god  of  the  hearth;  but  it 
(the  sex  being  uncertain,  I use  the  neuter  pro- 


132  TKe  J apanese  Nation 

noun)  is  possessed  of  no  form,  animate  or  inani- 
mate, animal  or  anthropomorphic.  The  hearth 
itself  is  not  for  one  moment  considered  divine.  It 
is  not  a fetich.  0-Kamado-san,  like  Vesta,  repre- 
sents the  power  and  action  of  the  fireplace.  The 
god’s  existence  is  made  manifest  only  through  what 
the  hearth  does.  It  is  a power  but  not  a thing,  any 
more  than  is  the  thing  “hearth”  the  power  “god.” 

The  absence  of  theology  deprives  Shinto  of  any 
discussion  concerning  the  hypostasis  of  belief.  It 
gives  no  clue  to  a rational  interpretation  of  the 
universe. 

The  absence  of  scriptures  deprives  Shinto  of 
final  authority  regarding  ethical  mandates.  In  a 
meagre  way  compensation  is  made  for  this  by 
myths,  legends,  and  tales,  not  always  instinct 
with  a moral — very  often  gross  and  sometimes 
more  obscene  than  the  baldest  stories  of  the 
Old  Testament. 

For  want  of  a creed  its  votaries  have  no  moral 
code  to  follow.  Yet,  as  I said  at  the  beginning  of 
the  present  lecture,  in  the  definition  of  religion,  a 
faith  does  not  deserve  the  name  of  religion  tmless 
it  manifests  itself  in  conduct  conformable  to  that 
faith,  and  partictdarly  in  the  act  of  worship.  In 
the  case  of  Shinto,  minute  rites  and  ritual  are 
dictated,  the  chief  burden  of  which  is  purification 
by  one  means  or  another. 

Concerning  the  daily  conduct  of  private  indi- 
viduals Httle  is  taught.  Scarcely  any  form  of 
prayer  is  prescribed.  In  fact,  even  upon  the 


Religious  Beliefs 


133 


occasion  of  festivals,  so-called  prayers  {norito) 
contain  little  supplication,  consisting  largely  of 
adoration  and  thanksgiving.  Very  rightly  has  Mr. 
Aston  called  Shinto  a reUgion  of  gratitude  and 
love.  If  suppHcation  is  made,  it  is  not  for  our 
own  daily  bread,  but  for  an  abimdant  harvest  for 
the  nation,  or,  if  it  is  for  forgiveness  of  trespasses, 
it  is  not  for  our  individual  wrong-doing,  but  for 
the  sins  of  the  people.  Thus  without  a visible 
communion  of  saints,  the  consciousness  of  national 
coherence  is  ever  kept  prominent.  As  to  the 
individual,  the  sum  and  substance  of  moral  injunc- 
tion amoimt  to  this : “Be  pure  in  heart  and  body ! ’ ’ 
In  other  words,  be  true  and  genuine  in  heart,  and 
clean  in  body.  Harbour  no  thought  of  evil  and 
thou  art  a god,  and  keep  thy  body  as  a temple 
meet  for  him  to  dweU  in.  Says  a famous  poem 
of  the  saintly  Michizane : 

“ The  god  blesseth 
Not  him  who  prayeth. 

But  him  whose  heart  strayeth 
Not  from  the  way  of  Makoto.” 

The  pecuHarly  Japanese  term  Makoto,  usually 
translated  “truth”  or  “faithfulness,”  covers  the 
whole  ground  or  the  very  essence  of  morals,  liter- 
ally meaning  the  thing  itself,  reminding  one  of  the 
Kantian  das  Ding  an  sich.  Makoto  signifies  real- 
ity or  truth,  which  implies  that  the  real  is  the  true 
and  the  true  is  the  real,  a proposition  almost 
Hegelian. 


134 


TKe  Japanese  Nation 


The  subjectivity  of  Shinto  morality  finds  fre- 
quent expression  in  the  oracles  of  many  gods,  for 
instance,  the  god  of  Fujiyama  enjoins  upon  his 
worshippers  the  following : 

“Ye  men  of  mine  shun  desire.  If  you  shun  desire 
you  will  ascend  to  a level  with  the  gods.  Every  little 
yielding  to  anxiety  is  a step  away  from  the  natural 
heart  of  man.  If  one  leaves  the  natural  heart  of  man 
he  becomes  a beast.  That  men  should  be  made  so, 
is  to  me  intolerable  pain  and  unending  sorrow.”' 

Here  is  another  oracle,  given  in  a dream  to  an 
emperor: — “It  is  the  upright  heart  of  all  men 
which  is  identical  with  the  highest  of  the  high  and 
therefore  the  god  of  gods.  There  is  no  room  in 
heaven  and  earth  for  the  false  and  crooked  per- 
son. 

Still  another: — “If  we  keep  tmperverted  the 
human  heart,  which  is  like  imto  heaven  and 
received  from  earth,  that  is  God.  The  gods  have 
their  abode  in  the  heart. 

As  long  as  we  shut  our  eyes  by  deliberate  exer- 
cise of  will  or  by  self-deception  to  that  persistent 
fact  of  evil  so  stubbornly  present  with  us,  the 
complete  identification  of  human  nature  with 
divine  may  be  accepted  as  indisputable,  and  preg- 
nant with  highest  moral  consequences.  With 
Goethe,  a Shintoist  could  say,  “The  more  thou 
feelest  to  be  a man,  the  nearer  thou  art  to  the 
gods.  ” 

’ These  translations  are  from  Mr.  Aston’s  Shinto. 


Religious  Beliefs 


135 


But  herein  lies  the  weakness  inherent  in  Shinto. 
If  the  real  and  the  true  are  identified  or,  at  least, 
convertible  terms,  there  is  no  room  left  for  ideals. 
Whatever  is,  is  true,  and  therefore  right.  A life, 
however  gross,  if  only  real,  is  a true  life,  and  there 
is  in  it  no  condemnation.  So  Shinto  could  not 
escape  the  weakness  common  to  all  forms  of 
naturalism,  and  nowhere  is  this  more  manifest,  to 
my  mind,  than  in  its  alliance  with  principalities 
and  powers  that  be.  Because  it  glorifies  the  real, 
it  deifies  mortals,  and  by  so  doing,  helps  to  excuse 
and  even  to  exalt  their  frailties. 

Moses,  lifted  high  above  his  people  and  invested 
with  authority  almost  divine,  still  points  above  and 
warns  them  to  refrain  from  idolatry.  If  we  turn 
from  the  grim  height  of  Sinai  and  the  desert  of 
Arabia,  to  the  City  of  the  Seven  Hills  on  the  smil- 
ing banks  of  the  Tiber,  we  see  Augustus,  the  sole 
lord  of  the  world,  making  himself  a divine  object 
for  supreme  reverence.  Then,  later  on  in  history, 
we  come  across  another  similar  contrast.  Crom- 
well, seated  upon  the  throne  previously  occupied 
by  the  Stuarts,  the  absolute  ruler  of  the  British 
realm,  still  points  upward  and  tells  his  country- 
men to  worship  not  him,  the  Huntington  squire, 
but  Him  before  whom  he  himself  is  but  a worm  of 
the  dust.  lyeyasu,  a contemporary  of  Cromwell, 
with  pow'ers  unbounded,  has  divine  homage  paid 
to  his  person  and  his  corpse.  Neither  Moses  nor 
Cromwell  dared  usurp  the  divine  throne.  Augustus 
and  lyeyasu  robbed  their  god  of  his  thunder. 


136  XKe  Japanese  Nation 

The  people  whose  gods  are  inferior  to  mortal 
sovereigns  can  never  aspire  high.  To  the  last  they 
are  of  the  earth  earthy.  As  long  as  they  cling  to 
earth,  however  high  they  may  lift  their  head  for  a 
time  in  the  struggle  for  life  or  for  space,  they  can- 
not win  in  the  higher  spiritual  race,  which  after 
aU  decides  the  fate  of  nations. 

NatirraHsm  teaches  us  to  be  true  to  nature. 
No  endeavour  is  exacted  to  conquer  natural  im- 
pulses imless  they  are  followed  to  an  extent  sub- 
versive of  their  purpose.  Whatever  restraint  we 
have  put  upon  vices,  or  whatever  encomagement 
we  have  given  to  virtues,  has  largely  come  from 
sources  other  than  Shinto. 

Whether  or  not  you  adopt  the  epi-phenomenon 
theory  of  consciousness,  you  cannot  deny  the  fact 
of  Belial  in  our  nature,  so  intertwined  with  the  very 
fibre  of  our  being  as  to  set  at  defiance  any  effort 
to  separate  it  as  mere  dust  or  stain.  It  seems  to 
me  that  the  weakness  of  Shinto  as  a religion  lies 
in  the  non-recognition  of  human  frailty,  of  sin. 
The  awful  sense  of  condemnation  which  torment 
Bunyan’s  Christian  and  all  other  seekers  with  the 
soul-rending  cry,  “How  can  I flee  from  the  wrath 
to  come?”  assiunes  with  the  Shintoist  a far  lighter 
strain,  “Is  this  good  to  be  preferred  to  that  good? ” 
The  dilemma  in  the  one  case  lies  between  eternal 
salvation  and  eternal  damnation,  between  heaven 
and  hell ; whereas  in  the  other  it  is  a choice  between 
two  benefactions  of  different  degrees,  between  this 
and  that  sunny  spot  in  the  groves  of  paradise. 


Religious  Beliefs 


137 


The  mental  and  spiritual  pendulum  of  Shinto  does 
not  swing  wide.  The  fact  that  Shinto  fails  to 
take  lofty  spiritual  flight  has  resulted  in  its  form- 
ing close  relations  with  temporal  concerns,  and 
its  teachings  are  almost  altogether  practical,  all 
of  the  sects  enforcing  personal  cleanhness  and 
diligence  in  daily  occupation,  and  some  of  them 
requiring  as  religious  duties  moimtain-climbing 
and  abdominal  respiration. 

As  to  the  reverence  it  inculcates  for  whatever  is 
above  ourselves, — the  love  of  the  land  where  our 
gods  abide  and  forefathers  repose,  the  veneration 
of  whatever  is  old,  and  respect  and  affection  for 
nature  and  all  its  single  objects, — no  religion  sur- 
passes ours.  Its  animism  has  endowed  the  very 
stones  with  sentient  hfe,  drawing  from  us  a feeling 
of  affection.  Its  pantheism  and  polytheism  have 
peopled  the  air,  land,  and  water,  with  beings  that 
call  forth  our  respect.  This  attitude  toward  nature 
instils  into  our  mind  the  love  of  the  land,  the 
instinct  of  patriotism.  Thus  from  being  a worship 
of  nature,  Shinto  becomes  an  ethnic  religion.  It 
is  national  in  its  concepts  and  precepts.  Its 
patriotism,  therefore,  may  easily  fall  into  Chau- 
vinism. Its  loyalty  can  degenerate  into  servile 
obedience.  It  can  readily  be  made  a political 
engine  in  the  hands  of  the  unscrupulous; — as 
such  it  can  indeed  be  made  a .powerful  one; 
but,  as  I have  intimated,  as  a moral  or  a 
religious  factor,  it  is  and  has  been  but  a feeble 
motive  force. 


138  XHe  Japanese  Nation 

Its  child-like  naivete,  its  very  jejuneness,  its 
easy-going  ethics,  verging  on  moral  indifference, 
handicapped  Shinto  in  coping  with  Buddhism  and 
Confucianism,  when  they  entered  our  country  in 
the  early  centuries  of  our  history.  The  backing 
of  the  Court  and  its  claim  to  nativity  could  not 
brook  the  overwhelming  tide  of  these  alien  teach- 
ings. “After  terrible  struggles,”  says  Professor 
Kume,  one  of  our  foremost  historical  critics, 
“between  the  three  systems  of  teaching,  especially 
between  Shinto  and  Buddhism,  peace  was  finally 
established,  whereby  the  sphere  was  virtually 
divided  among  the  three.  Shinto  received  the 
dominion  of  public  ceremonies.  Buddhism  of 
religion,  and  Confucianism  of  ethics.” 

The  yearnings,  intellectual  and  spiritual,  which 
Shinto  could  not  meet,  were  more  fully  satisfied 
by  Confucianism  and  Buddhism.  You  may  remem- 
ber that  Chinese  studies  were  introduced  into 
Japan  in  the  middle  of  the  third  century  A.D.,  and 
that  the  seed,  falling  upon  fertile  ground,  was 
sprouting  and  growing  with  unusual  rapidity  and 
vitality  when  Buddhism  reached  the  land. 

The  introduction  of  Buddhism  into  Japan  dates 
back  to  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century.  Its  mis- 
sionary operations  ever  since  the  time  of  King 
Asoka  (250  B.c.)  had  been  reaping  considerable  fruit 
in  the  southern  part  of  Asia,  and  extended  by  way 
of  Bactria  as  far  as  Syria  and  Egypt,  and  even 
into  Greece  and  Macedonia.  By  67  A.d.  it  found 
its  way  to  China,  being  brought  thither  by  Chinese 


Religious  Beliefs 


139 


emissaries,  who  had  been  despatched  westward  in 
search  of  a new  rehgion  which,  prophecy  had 
declared,  would  be  started  about  that  time, — a pro- 
phecy which  might  have  referred  to  Christianity, 
as  far  as  time  was  concerned. 

It  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  Buddhism  is 
divided  into  two  great  branches,  the  Northern  and 
the  Southern,  more  divergent  than  the  Protestant 
and  the  Roman  Catholic  faiths.  The  Southern 
branch,  called  also  the  “Lesser  Vehicle, ” accepted 
in  Ceylon  and  Siam,  is  a purer  form  and  simpler 
in  doctrine.  The  Northern,  called  the  “Greater 
Vehicle”  [Maha  Yana  in  Sanskrit  or  Daijo  in 
Japanese),  has  deviated  widely  from  the  original 
teachings  of  Sakya  Muni,  the  founder.  It  has 
gained  not  only  in  intellectual  volume,  in  theology 
and  philosophy,  but  also  in  accretions  of  foreign 
matter,  absorbing  the  teachings  and  legends  and 
gods  of  alien  and  hostile  religions.  It  was  this 
Northern  form  of  Buddhism  that  passed  from 
China  to  Japan  via  Korea.  It  came  just  at  the 
time  when  the  country  was  eager  to  learn  from 
abroad.  On  its  arrival,  it  foimd  the  ground  already 
occupied  by  Confucianism,  which  counted  among 
its  adherents  the  members  of  the  Court  and  the 
learned  of  the  land.  Naturally  it  was  met  by 
opposition  from  them;  but,  at  the  same  time,  it 
was  among  them  that  the  new  tenets  won  their 
first  votaries. 

The  Chinese  ideograms,  which  were  made  famil- 
iar through  Confucianism,  were  a ready  instrument 


140  The  Japanese  Nation 

in  the  hands  of  Buddhists  for  the  extension  of 
their  doctrines,  and,  endowed  with  erudition  and 
deep  insight  and  large  experience  in  propagandism, 
they  may  well  be  said  to  have  created  a new  era 
in  the  history  of  the  Sunrise  Kingdom.  The  meta- 
physical queries  with  which  Shinto  could  ill  cope 
and  which  were  stimulated  by  Confucianism  could 
now  be  answered.  The  educational  value  of  Budd- 
hism in  Japan  cannot  be  overestimated.  It  did  not 
stop  in  its  activities  with  things  spiritual.  Its 
influence  penetrated  and  permeated  all  the  rami- 
fications of  our  national  life.  It  touched  the  very 
fountains  of  thought  and  set  a-flowing  new  cur- 
rents of  ideas.  It  sobered  the  light-hearted  nature- 
worshippers.  It  furnished  a deeper  interpretation 
of  ancestor- worship.  It  created  new  notions  of 
nature  and  life.  It  invented  a new  vocabulary. 
It  gave  rise  to  new  arts,  trades,  and  crafts.  It 
initiated  a new  polity  of  government.  It  changed 
the  whole  social  structure.  Indeed,  there  was 
nothing  that  was  not  impregnated  with  the 
doctrines  of  Gautama. 

All  this  astonishing  work  was  primarily  due  to 
the  conquest  made  by  Buddhism  in  the  conver- 
sion, during  the  latter  part  of  the  sixth  century’-, 
of  the  Prince  Imperial  and  Regent  of  the  Cro-wn. 
A man  of  the  highest  character  and  of  imlimited 
ability,  who  combined  in  his  person  aU  the  sagacity 
of  a statesman  and  all  the  virtues  of  a saint — a 
savant  and  an  artist — Shotoku  Daishi  took  rmder 
his  patronage  the  native  followers  and  foreign 


Religious  Beliefs  141 

teachers  of  the  new  faith.  A unique  figure  in  the 
annals  of  our  country,  his  contributions  to  our 
civilisation  were  incalculable.  Upon  the  principles 
of  Gautama’s  teaching,  yet  without  infraction  to 
the  traditions  of  his  race,  he  framed  a constitution 
— the  so-called  Constitution  of  Seventeen  Articles 
— for  the  governance  of  the  nation.  He  estab- 
lished different  institutions  of  charity,  such  as 
monasteries,  orphanages,  dispensaries,  hospitals; 
he  built  many  temples,  some  of  which  are  still 
standing  as  marvellous  monuments  of  architecture, 
having  weathered  the  storms  of  time  for  well-nigh 
fifteen  centuries. 

Under  his  Imperial  patronage  the  new  religion 
steadily  gained  in  numbers  and  influence,  contribut- 
ing, as  it  made  its  own  progress,  to  that  of  culture 
in  general.  But,  very  soon  after  the  death  of  this 
Prince,  it  began  to  be  disturbed  by  sectarian 
differences  of  opinion. 

Among  the  founders  of  sects,  two  names  are 
worthy  of  special  mention,  Saicho  (otherwise 
Deng^'o)  and  Kukai  (canonised  as  Kobo  Daishi), 
founders  respectively  of  the  two  strong  sects  of 
Tendai  (Heavenly  Command),  and  Shingon  (True 
Word).  Both  belonged  to  the  early  part  of  the 
ninth  century'. 

Though  both  of  these  saints  studied  in  China 
and  the  fimdamentals  of  their  sects  were  brought 
thence,  they  not  only  admitted  the  incult  into  their 
faith  but  absorbed  Shinto  gods  into  their  pantheon. 
That  is  to  say,  they  “Buddhified”  the  old  Kami. 


142 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


The  goddess  of  the  sun,  for  instance,  who  occupied 
the  highest  position  in  the  Shinto  pantheon,  was 
interpreted  as  an  avatar  of  Buddhist  existence, 
and  the  lesser  gods  shared  the  same  fate  of  adop- 
tion. There  was  not  a legend,  not  a rite  of  Shinto 
origin,  which  could  not  find  its  counterpart  or 
parallel  in  the  all-embracing  system  of  Buddhism. 

In  short,  Shinto  was  swallowed  up  in  the  new 
faith,  though  it  has  never  admitted  that  it  lost  its 
own  identity,  but  has  always  claimed  a nominal 
independence  side  by  side  with  Buddhism.  It  has 
kept,  as  it  were,  the  names  of  its  gods  and  the 
framework  of  its  ritual,  yet  without  power  or  life. 
It  has  barely  continued  its  hold  upon  the  people 
by  its  traditions  and  prestige.  Like  the  con- 
dominium of  England  and  Egypt  in  the  Sudan, 
the  two  faiths  were  allied  in  the  spiritual  dom- 
ination of  Japan;  allied — but  how  unequally! 
The  alliance  lasted  throughout  centuries  with  a 
separate  field  allotted  to  each,  as  I have  said 
before.  Adjustment  was  made  between  them,  so 
as  to  leave  little  cause  for  quarrel.  Each  had  its 
own  temples — the  Buddhists  delighting  in  grand 
and  ornate  architecture  of  Hindu  origin,  gaudy  in 
colotm  and  filled  with  mystic  symbols  of  worship. 

Very  few  Shinto  shrines  retained  their  original 
integrity;  for  the  greater  part  the  two  religions 
mixed  and  mingled.  Buddhist  deities  found  lodg- 
ment side  by  side  with  Shinto  gods  imder  the 
same  shelter.  In  private  households  you  still  see 
a miniature  Buddhist  shrine,  and  close  by  it  a 


Religiovis  Beliefs 


143 


shelf  provided  with  a few  instruments  of  Shinto 
cult.  When  a birth  occurs  in  the  family,  the  babe 
is  taken  to  a Shinto  shrine  for  consecration  and 
blessing;  but  when  there  is  a death,  the  funeral  is 
often  conducted  by  a Buddhist  priest.  Shinto 
festivals  are  occasions  of  joy  and  rejoicing,  of 
thanksgiving  and  merry-making.  Buddhist  festi- 
vals are  usually  suggestive  of  sin  and  of  sorrow, 
of  sober  thoughts  and  sombre  musings. 

The  final  and  practical  identity  of  all  religions 
has  been  expressed  in  a well-known  verse ; — 

“ Be  it  crystal  of  snow-flake  frail. 

Be  it  globule  of  hoary  hail. 

Be  it  the  form  of  thick-ribbed  ice, — 

If  but  the  sun’s  warm  rays  upon  them  fall, 

They  melt  and  merge  in  one  element  all.” 

Thus  in  closest  ties  united,  the  two  faiths  had 
spent  centuries  together,  when,  with  the  Restora- 
tion of  the  Imperial  power  in  1868,  Shinto  resumed 
its  ancient  dignity,  and,  like  a prodigal  suddenly 
awakened  to  the  consciousness  that  he  had  been 
joined  to  an  unworthy  mate,  the  native  faith  left 
the  spouse  of  alien  origin;  but  the  separation  is 
still  largely  on  legal  paper  only.  The  offspring  of  a 
long  union  is  not  easily  to  be  disowned  and  the 
populace  continue  to  worship  the  Kami  and  the 
Buddha  with  equal  reverence  and  fervour.  As 
ecclesiastical  institutions  they  are  both  equally 
recognised  by  the  Government. 

The  fact  that  there  are  only  about  72,000 


144  XKe  Japanese  Nation 

Buddhist  temples,  as  against  some  162,000  Shinto 
shrines,  might  seem  to  place  Buddhism  in  a sub- 
ordinate position;  but  the  former  are,  on  the 
average,  much  larger  and  more  costly,  and  they 
accommodate  a far  larger  priesthood,  the  Buddhist 
clergy  numbering  over  fifty  thousand  and  the 
Shinto  priests  only  fifteen  thousand.  In  erudition 
and  in  character,  the  Buddhist  priests  are  decidedly 
superior  to  their  Shinto  compeers.  Concerning 
the  number  of  their  respective  followers,  in  neither 
case  can  any  statistics  be  given.  Both  may  reckon 
the  whole  Japanese  population  as  their  constitu- 
ency; but  as  far  as  open  confession  and  earnest 
attendance  to  religious  duties  are  concerned,  the 
Buddhists  excel  the  Shintoists.  For  instance,  no 
Shinto  sect  can  vie  with  the  Hokkei,  or  the  follow- 
ers of  that  commanding  figure  of  rehgious  history, 
Nichiren,  in  keeping  alive  the  fire  of  enthusiasm; 
or  with  the  Shin  sect,  w^hich,  of  the  twelve  main 
sects  of  Japan,  is  numerically  the  strongest.  The 
popularity  of  the  Shin  and  some  other  sects  is 
due  chiefly  to  their  tact  and  talent  in  adapting 
their  teachings  to  the  mental  capacity  of  the 
populace.  “Look  at  the  people  and  preach  ac- 
cordingly,” is  a guiding  principle  of  their  homi- 
letics. Not  only  the  sermons  but  the  doctrines, 
and,  I dare  say,  the  preachers  themselves,  have 
come  to  stoop  down  to  the  level  of  the  masses. 
Hence,  modem  Buddhism,  at  least  in  Japan,  has 
two  aspects.  In  one  it  caters  to  the  men  of  the 
street;  in  the  other,  it  illuminates  a saint  and  a 


Reli^iovis  Beliefs 


145 


scholar.  While  it  demonstrates  to  the  instructed 
the  vanity  of  belief  in  personal  immortality,  it 
depicts  in  glaring  colours  for  the  ignorant  a gory 
hell.  While  it  expounds  to  the  learned  that  there 
is  no  supernatural  being,  it  paints  for  the  canaille 
a land  peopled  with  every  conceivable  form  of 
existence.  While  for  the  vulgar  it  indulges  in 
“pious  frauds  and  holy  shifts,”  it  opens  to  the 
enlightened  all  the  resources  of  intellect.  Bud- 
dhism for  the  populace  has  in  too  many  instances 
deterioriated  into  nonsense,  barely  kept  up  by 
cheap  incense.  But  Buddhism  for  the  initiated, 
Higher  Buddhism,  is  something  vastly  different. 
To  convey  its  main  beliefs  in  terms  of  Occidental 
philosophy  or  theology,  is  a task  of  surpassing 
difficulty,  as  a great  many  of  its  concepts  hardly 
fit  into  Western  categories. 

The  most  original  and  authentic  exposition  of 
the  teaching  of  Sakya  Muni  is  embodied  in  the 
following  sentences,  which  he  uttered  as  he  came 
down  from  a mount  of  meditation : 

“There  are  two  extremes  which  he  who  has  renounced 
the  world  ought  not  to  follow, — habitual  devotion, 
on  the  one  hand,  to  sensual  pleasures,  which  is  degrad- 
ing, vulgar,  ignoble,  unprofitable,  fit  only  for  the 
worldly-minded;  and  habitual  devotion,  on  the  other 
hand,  to  self-mortification,  which  is  painful,  ignoble, 
unprofitable.  There  is  a middle  path  discovered  by 
the  Tathagata  (Buddha),  a path  which  opens  the 
eyes  and  bestows  understanding,  which  leads  to  peace, 
to  insight,  to  the  higher  wisdom,  to  Nirvana.  Verily! 


10 


146  The  Japanese  Nation 

it  is  this  noble  (Aryan)  Eight-fold  Path  {ariyo 
attangiko  maggo) ; that  is  to  say,  Right  Views,  Right 
Aspirations  (or  Resolves),  Right  Speech,  Right  Con- 
duct (or  Work),  Right  Livelihood,  Right  Effort  (or 
Training),  Right  Mindfulness,  and  Right  Rapture.” 

This  first  public  utterance  of  Gautama,  delivered 
in  Pali  to  his  five  former  associates  in  Benares,  is 
known  as  the  Bana,  and  sounds  simple  enough  at 
first  hearing.  The  instant  we  inquire  what  is 
meant  by  the  noble  Eight-fold  Path,  we  are  struck 
at  once  by  the  recondite  meanings  attached  to 
each  of  these  categories.  Indeed,  the  use  of  the 
mere  adjective  “Aryan,”  or  “noble,”  as  applied 
to  wisdom,  calls  forth  our  admiration  for  the 
grandeur  of  his  thought.  It  is  not  an  ethnic  dis- 
tinction but  indicates  a grade  of  wdsdom — not 
man’s  wisdom,  not  his  intellect,  but  a wisdom  pro- 
lific of  more  wisdom.  The  term  “ right  ” (samma), 
which  modifies  all  the  Eight-fold  Path,  may  be 
interpreted  in  a narrow,  bigoted  sense  or  in  a 
broad,  loving  sense.  For  instance.  Right  Views 
may  be  interpreted,  as  Sir  Monier  Williams  seems 
inclined  to  do,  as  belief  in  Buddha  and  his  doc- 
trine; Right  Resolve,  according  to  him,  means 
abandoning  one’s  wife  and  family,  and  Right 
Speech,  mere  recitation  of  Buddha’s  doctrine; 
Right  Livelihood,  living  by  alms;  Right  Work,  the 
exercise  of  a monk.  Sir  Monier’s  book  is  often 
misleading,  always  bent  upon  depreciation  of  Bud- 
dhism, and  cannot  be  trusted  as  a fair  presenta- 


Religiovis  Beliefs  H7 

tion.  The  Right  Views  (samma  ditthi)  include 
Right  Views  regarding  existence,  whether  it  is 
permanent  or  transient,  whether  it  is  a being  or 
a becoming,  and  other  like  searching  questions.  Of 
Right  Mindedness  (sati),  four  sublime  states  are 
recounted ; namely,  those  of  Love,  of  Sorrow  at  the 
sorrow  of  others,  of  Joy  with  those  who  rejoice, 
and  of  calm  Equanimity  in  one’s  own  joys  and 
sorrows. 

Under  Right  Conduct  ikammanto)  the  power  of 
love  is  portrayed  and  its  exercise  enjoined,  forming 
a fit  parallel  to  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  tlie  first 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  It  says  L 

“ All  the  means  that  can  be  used  as  bases  for  doing 
right  are  not  worth  the  sixteenth  part  of  the  emancipa- 
tion of  heart  through  love.  Love  takes  them  all  up 
into  itself,  outshining  them  in  radiance  and  glory. 

Just  as  whatsoever  stars  there  be,  their  radiance 
avails  not  the  sixteenth  part  of  the  radiance  of  the 
moon.  Love  takes  them  all  up  into  itself,  outshining 
them  in  radiance  and  glory. 

Just  as  in  the  last  month  of  the  rains,  at  harvest 
time,  the  sun,  mounting  up  on  high  into  the  clear  and 
cloudless  sky,  overwhelms  all  darkness  in  the  realms 
of  space,  and  shines  forth  in  radiance  and  glory; — 
just  as  in  the  night,  when  the  dawn  is  breaking,  the 
Morning  Star  shines  out  in  radiance  and  glory; — 
just  so  all  the  means  that  can  be  used  as  helps  towards 
doing  right  avail  not  the  sixteenth  part  of  the  emanci- 
pation of  heart  through  love!  ” 

* I follow  the  translation  of  Rhys- Davids. 


148  TKe  Japanese  Nation 

Or,  under  the  head  of  Right  Rapture  (samahdi) , 
is  described  the  beatitude  of  one  who  has  attained 
to  Nirvana — that  state  of  spiritual  exaltation 
where  no  evil  can  touch  or  harm  him.  It  is  a 
state  of  rapture  and  joy,  and  not  of  unfeeling 
indifference,  as  it  is  sometimes  supposed  to  be. 

“Blessed  are  we  who  hate  not  those  who  hate  us; 

Who  among  men  full  of  hate,  continue  void  of  hate. 

Blessed  are  we  who  dwell  in  health  among  the  ailing; 

Who  among  men  weary  and  sick,  continue  well. 

Blessed  are  we  who  dwell  free  from  care  among  the 
care-worn ; 

Who  among  men  full  of  worries,  continue  calm. 

- Blessed  indeed  are  we  who  have  no  hindrances; 

Who  shall  become  feeders  on  joy,  like  the  gods  in 
their  shining  splendour.” 

Were  we  to  search  among  the  voluminous  litera- 
ture of  Buddhism,  we  should  often  come  across 
words  and  thoughts,  parables  and  incidents,  with 
which  the  Gospels  have  made  us  familiar, — so 
much  so,  that  not  a few  suspect  a strong  influence 
of  Buddhism  upon  early  Christianity. 

But  this  is  too  large  a theme  for  me  to  take  up 
now.  Whether  the  origins  of  the  two  religions — 
now  called  the  religion  of  the  East  and  the  religion 
of  the  West — be  one  or  two,  if  we  divest  both  of 
their  wrappage,  we  shall  come  to  know  how  nearly 
allied  in  many  particulars  they  are.  Though  at 
the  foot  of  the  hill  the  ways  are  far  apart,  as  we 
ascend  higher  and  higher,  the  nearer  approach  our 


Religious  Beliefs 


149 


paths,  tintil  they  meet  at  the  summit,  to  share  the 
view  of  the  plains  below  from  the  height  of  the 
same  divine  wisdom.  On  this  height  in  the  ful- 
ness of  time  may  be  brought  into  common  brother- 
hood, the  philosophers  of  the  North  and  the 
seers  of  the  South,  the  thinkers  of  the  West, 
and  the  wise  men  of  the  East, — and  God  shall  be 
glorified  by  all  His  children.  The  hour  is  coming 
when  neither  on  the  mountains  of  Samaria  nor 
in  the  city  of  Jerusalem, — not  alone  in  the  Orient, 
neither  in  the  Occident, — but  in  spirit  and  in 
truth,  wherever  men  come  together  in  brotherly 
love,  shall  they  worship  the  same  Father. 


CHAPTER  VI 


MORALS  AND  MORAL  IDEALS 

UNDER  various  names — characterology,  sophi- 
ology,  ethology,  race  psychology — the  study 
of  ahen  character  has  been  cultivated  to  discover 
some  traits  peculiar  to  different  races,  and  this 
has  given  rise  to  the  so-caUed  Volkergedanken 
theory,  which  takes  for  granted  without  demon- 
stration that  every  race  must  be  possessed  of  some 
mental  and  moral  features  not  shared  by  others. 
He  will  indeed  be  a great  discoverer  who  can  find 
in  any  ethnic  group  a new  capacity  of  the  mind 
unknown  to  other  groups ! 

No  phase  of  national  life  is  more  diffictilt  to 
grasp  than  the  moral.  To  interpret  it  intelligently 
one  must  often  change  one’s  viewpoint  in  looking 
at  the  apparent  singularities  of  a people’s  man- 
ners and  customs.  Above  aU,  not  to  draw  conclu- 
sions without  first  inquiring  into  the  proper  bounds 
and  the  underlying  motive  of  unfamiliar  usages 
and  the  moral  habits  of  a race,  is  indispensable  to 
right  judgment ; for  these  are  usually  the  product 
of  national  history  and  geography.  A thoughtful 


Morals  and  Moral  Ideals  151 

observer  can  soon  reduce  them  to  a common 
denominator  or  what  Bastian  calls  the  Elementar- 
gedanken  of  the  human  race. 

It  may  seem  a startling  theme ; but  nothing  will 
illustrate  my  meaning  better  than  the  kiss.  In 
the  West — well,  you  know  how  it  is  regarded;  in 
the  East,  in  Japan  in  particular,  the  word  is  not 
so  much  as  mentioned  without  a blush.  The 
West  may  say:  “No  kiss?  How  cold  the  Oriental 
heart  must  be!”  The  East  will  say:  “Kissing  in 
public!  What  bad  taste!”  The  West  may  say: 
“How  strange!  Because  it  is  something  so  natu- 
ral.” The  East  says:  “How  strange!  It  is  too 
natural.  ” In  the  West,  it  is  elevated  to  a proper 
moral  act ; in  the  East  it  is  degraded  to  the  sphere 
of  the  improper. 

We  read  in  ecclesiastical  history  that  in  early 
times  Christian  w'orshippers  adopted  the  practice 
of  promiscuous  kissing,  under  the  name  of  the 
“kiss  of  peace.  ” The  practice  had  not  continued 
very  long  before  the  graver  Fathers  found  that 
this  pious  act  w’as  too  zealously  followed  by  the 
younger  brethren  and  sisters  to  be  spiritually  edi- 
fying. It  was  soon  restricted  to  the  kissing  of 
man  by  man,  and  w'oman  by  woman. 

I have  often  wondered  about  the  kissing-margin 
of  the  West,  and  I understand  that  it  does  not  go 
beyond  first  cousins,  and  that,  if  carried  farther, 
it  is  fraught  with  some  danger — from  which  I 
infer,  some  kind  of  infection  is  feared ! I have  also 
wondered  about  the  marginal  kiss — that  is  to 


152  The  Japanese  Nation 

say,  the  different  gradations  of  kissing.  A kiss  on 
the  cheek  is  certainly  of  a grade  different  from 
that  on  the  forehead  or  on  the  lips,  and  very 
different  from  that  on  the  hand  or  on  the  toe.  I 
might  go  on  asking  a thousand  questions  about 
this  extraordinary  Western  custom,  which  I confess 
I have  never  ceased  to  regard  with  some  amaze- 
ment; but  I have  said  enough  to  hint  a doubt  as 
to  the  appropriate  limit  of  the  practice.  Even 
the  Japanese  do  not  hesitate  to  kiss  children  on 
the  cheek. 

Now  it  is  just  the  proper  bounds — fitly  named 
the  Golden  Mean — that  determine  the  approval 
or  the  condemnation  of  a social  usage,  and  these 
proper  bounds  are  usually  so  delicate  as  to  elude 
any  definition.  In  other  words,  an  Oriental  who 
may  adopt  a custom  he  does  not  understand,  is 
not  likely  to  know  how  far  to  go.  Just  the  same 
thing  happens  in  Japan.  I have  more  than  once 
seen  American  men  at  Japanese  banquets  or  in 
Japanese  inns  taking  far  greater  liberty  with  the 
girls  who  wait  upon  them  than  our  national  cus- 
toms consider  allowable,  and  yet  it  is  just  these 
men  who  throw  a shade  upon  the  morals  of  our 
women  and  whose  false  interpretations  have  had 
such  wide  hearing;  therefore  I make  bold  to  men- 
tion this  subject  here. 

Again,  a Japanese  in  an  American  ball-room 
sees  ladies  exposing  their  shoulders.  An  American 
notices  that  the  dress  of  Japanese  w’omen  flaps  in 
the  wind,  and  forthwith  a Puritanic  frown  appears 


Morals  and  Moral  Ideals 


153 


on  his  forehead  and  he  calls  the  dress  and  the 
wearer  immoral.  Or  he  sometimes  sees  in  the 
coimtry  a peasant  woman  bathing  b}’  the  road- 
side. He  infers  that  these  women  must  be  utterly 
depraved — a conclusion  as  hasty  and  as  irrational 
as  would  be  a suspicion  on  the  part  of  the  Japanese 
that  the  ladies  at  the  ball  are  not  modest,  or  that 
the  occupants  of  a house  adorned  with  nude  pic- 
tures and  statues  can  have  no  sense  of  decorum. 
Non  seqiiitur,  as  the  logicians  say.  It  is  true  that 
our  people  do  not  hesitate  to  lay  bare  the  body 
to  the  extent  of  what  may  be  termed  a utilitarian 
marginal  nudity,  when  convenience  requires  this, 
whereas  the  European  custom  is  for  women  to 
exhibit  charm  of  person  when  there  is  least  reason 
for  it.  With  us  it  is  no  shame  to  tuck  one’s  kimono 
high  on  a rainy  day,  whereas  it  is  a breach  of  eti- 
quette to  let  the  foot,  even  though  clad  in  spotless 
tabi,  protrude  unnecessarily  in  the  parlour. 

No  two  parties  can  ever  come  to  a mutual 
understanding  as  long  as  either  of  them  arrogates 
the  attitude  of  superiority,  and  refuses  to  divest 
itself  of  what  von  der  Steinen  calls  Cultiirbrille — 
the  coloured  spectacles  of  one’s  own  civilisation. 
Satisfied  with  his  oum  righteousness,  a Pharisee 
can  never  comprehend  the  beauty — not  to  say  the 
superiority — in  the  teachings  of  other  sects. 

“That  way 

Over  the  mountain  which  who  stands  upon. 

Is  apt  to  doubt  if  it  be  indeed  a road ; 


154  The  Japanese  Nation 

While  if  he  views  it  from  the  waste  itself, 

Up  goes  the  line  there,  plain  from  base  to  brow, 

Not  vague,  mistakable!  What ’s  a break  or  two 
Seen  from  the  unbroken  desert  either  side? 

And  then  (to  bring  in  fresh  philosophy) , 

What  if  the  breaks  themselves  should  prove  at  last 
The  most  consummate  of  contrivances 
To  train  a man’s  eyes,  teach  him  what  is  faith?” 

Many  others  than  Browning  have  felt  the  same, 
and  only  the  most  thoughtless  are  denied  the  sight 
of  a road  threading  the  apparent  waste. 

It  is  a remark  too  often  made  by  foreign  tourists 
that  Japanese  life  is  as  singularly  devoid  of  morals 
as  Japanese  flowers  are  of  scent — a sad  confession 
of  the  moral  and  intellectual  limitations  of  the 
accusers  themselves!  When  Pierre  Loti  gives  an 
account  of  Madame  Chrysantheme,  he  does  not 
portray  a typical  Japanese  woman,  but  only  fur- 
nishes a clue  as  to  the  kind  of  company  he  keeps. 

Those  who  associate  fragrance  with  roses  only, 
or  morality  with  conventional  Christianity,  are 
sure  to  be  disappointed  in  flnding  but  little  of 
either  in  Japan;  but  that  is  no  proof  that  the 
ume  blossoms  are  not  fragrant,  or  that  chivalry 
does  not  teach  pragmatism.  There  is,  however, 
good  reason  why  the  busy  West  knows  so  little  of 
the  Far  East,  especially  regarding  things  which 
cannot  be  bought  or  sold  with  cash,  for  we  have 
neither  bottled  the  essence  of  the  ume  in  flasks, 
like  attar  of  roses,  nor  bound  the  precepts  of 
knighthood  in  a gilt-edged  pocket  edition. 


Morals  and  Moral  Ideals 


155 


The  age  of  chivalry  is  said  to  have  passed  away. 
As  an  institution  it  has  disappeared,  but  sad  will 
be  the  day  when  the  virtues  it  has  taught  shall 
likewise  have  disappeared!  Fortunately  for  us, 
like  a disembodied  spirit,  they  still  live  on,  some- 
what modified,  but  retaining  their  essential 
qualities. 

This  ethical  and  spiritual  legacy  we  call  Bushido, 
which  literally  signifies  Fighting-Knight-Ways,  or 
better  translated,  Teachingsof  Knightly  Behaviour. 
It  was  the  moral  code  of  the  samurai — the  class  of 
knights  whose  badge  and  privilege  it  was  to  wear 
two  swords.  Do  not  imagine  that  they  were  only 
swaggering,  blood-thirsty  youths.  The  sword  was 
called  the  soul  of  the  samurai.  Like  “The 
Sword  of  Robert  Lee,  ” it  flashed  from  its  scabbard 
for  the  purpose  of 

“ Shielding  the  feeble,  smiting  the  strong. 
Guarding  the  right,  avenging  the  wrong.” 

As  a separate  class,  the  samurai  no  longer  exists 
except  in  name;  but  the  noblesse  oblige  which  dis- 
tinguished it  stiU  remains.  In  his  palmiest  days 
— that  is  during  the  feudal  ages — the  samurai  was 
the  man.  In  popular  ballad  it  was  sung,  “As 
among  flowers  the  cherry  is  queen,  so  among  men 
the  samurai  is  lord.”  His  ideals  filtered  down  to 
the  lower  classes  and  his  moral  code  became  the 
standard  for  the  nation. 

The  strength  and  perhaps  also  the  weakness  of 
Bushido  lay  in  this,  that  it  possessed  no  written 


156  THe  Japanese  Nation 

creed.  It  was  sufficient  for  its  followers  only  to 
feel  that  there  was  something  in  their  mind — the 
mysteries  of  which  they  little  cared  to  analyse — 
always  active  with  admonitions,  which,  when  dis- 
obeyed, heaped  upon  the  transgressors  fiery  coals 
of  shame,  and  which  could  be  appeased  only  by 
implicit  obedience.  In  the  absence  of  any  written 
commandments,  the  Ren-chi-shin  (consciousness 
of  shame)  was  the  last  and  highest  court  of  appeal. 
A man  who  had  lost  his  sense  of  shame  forfeited 
his  human  claims. 

He  is  the  best  man  who  has  no  cause  to  be 
ashamed,  who  so  masters  himself  that  his  thoughts 
and  his  person  are  his  willing  servants.  A great 
warrior  of  the  eleventh  century  left  a verse  behind 
him,  which,  roughly  translated,  nms: 

“ Subdue  first  of  all  thy  own  self. 

Next  thy  friends,  and  last  thy  foes; 

Three  victories  are  these  of  him 
That  would  a conqueror’s  name  attain.” 

Self-mastery — the  maintenance  of  equanimity 
of  temper  under  conditions  the  most  trying, 
whether  in  war  or  in  peace,  of  composure  and  pres- 
ence of  mind  in  sudden  danger,  self-possession 
under  calamity  and  reverses — was  inculcated  as 
one  of  the  primary  virtues  of  man;  it  was  even 
drilled  into  youths  by  genuine  Spartan  methods. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem  at  first  appearance,  this 
strong  fortification  of  self  against  external  causes 
of  surprise  was  but  one  side  of  self-abnegation. 


Morals  and  Moral  Ideals 


157 


One  of  the  terms  of  highest  praise  was  “a  man 
without  a me.”  The  complete  effacement  of  self 
meant  one’s  identification  with  some  higher  cause. 
The  ver>^  duties  which  man  performs  are,  according 
to  our  idea,  not  to  buy  salvation  for  himself;  he 
has  no  prospect  of  a “reward  in  heaven”  offered 
him,  if  he  does  this  or  does  not  abstain  from  that. 
The  voice  of  conscience,  “Thou  good  and  faithful 
servant,  ” is  the  only  and  sufficient  reward. 

Conscience,  called  among  us  by  the  comprehen- 
sive term  Kokoro  (which  may  mean  mind,  spirit, 
or  heart),  was  the  only  criterion  of  right  and 
wrong.  But  conscience,  being  a power  of  percep- 
tion, and  the  w’hole  tenor  of  Bushido  being  action, 
the  harmonious  working  of  the  two  was  taught  in 
the  Socratic  doctrine — though  Socrates  was  as 
unknown  to  us  as  X-rays — that  thought  and 
action  are  one  and  the  same. 

He  w’ho  pursues  virtuous  conduct  for  the  sake 
of  virtue  is,  in  our  estimation,  the  noblest  of  men. 
He  asks  not  for  worldly  reward.  He  who  knows, 
and  lives  up  to  the  knowledge,  that  honour  and 
shame  rise  from  no  condition  of  life,  but  solely 
from  acting  or  not  acting  one’s  own  part — such  a 
conscientious  man  is  rare  anyv’here.  Mediocrity 
must  be  fed  on  a more  diluted  diet,  and  with  us 
this  is  foxmd  in  an  inferior  grade  of  the  honour- 
sense — namely,  in  the  fear  of  personal  disgrace  or  in 
the  maintenance  of  family  pride.  “You  will  be 
laughed  at,”  is  the  usual  dose  of  sedative  advice 
administered  to  an  unruly  child.  Brought  up  in 


158  XHe  Japanese  Nation 

constant  fear  of  disgracing  oneself  if  one  but  strays 
from  the  path  trodden  by  others,  a child  grows 
into  a law-abiding  or  rather  custom-abiding  citizen, 
though  he  becomes  so  at  the  expense  of  freedom 
of  thought  and  initiative  of  action.  When,  in 
spite  of  social  control,  he  is  inclined  to  be  too 
independent,  aU  the  weight  of  a long  line  of  ances- 
try is  brought  to  bear  on  his  proper  behaviour. 
With  a large  majority  of  our  people  there  is  no 
higher  appeal  to  morality  than  family  pride — a 
kind  of  pride  which,  instead  of  going  before  de- 
struction, avoids  it.  You  will  understand  its 
significance  better  when  I speak  of  filial  love.  To 
elevate  the  name  of  one’s  family  becomes  a spur 
to  virtue  and  a curb  to  vice,  and  attains  the  dignity 
of  a religious  duty.  We  owe  our  being  to  our 
parents,  and  through  them  to  our  ancestors,  and 
we  can  repay  them  only  by  gratitude  and  by 
showing  forth  their  glory;  hence  nothing  is  more 
humiliating  to  one’s  self-respect  than  to  bring 
into  disrepute  one’s  cognomen. 

Confucius  teaches  that  the  highest  act  of  filial 
affection  is  to  make  manifest  the  name  of  one’s 
parent.  Nothing  so  honours  parents  as  that 
their  son  should  add  lustre  to  their  memory; 
Decori  decus  addit  avito.  In  this  connection  I may 
be  allowed  to  make  a moment’s  digression  regard- 
ing the  charge,  so  often  made  in  Japan,  that 
Christianity  does  not  sufficiently  emphasise  filial 
affection.  It  is  only  fair  to  state  that  Jesus  ful- 
filled the  highest  ideal  of  Confucian  ethics;  for 


Morals  and  Moral  Ideals 


159 


did  he  not  make  illustrious  his  family,  when, 
astonished  at  his  mighty  w’orks,  the  multitude 
began  to  ask:  “ Is  this  the  carpenter’s  son?  Is  not 
his  mother  called  Mary?” 

The  sense  of  family  solidarity  not  only  delivers 
individual  members  from  destruction  but  con- 
tributes toward  their  legal  and  moral  cohesion. 
How  many  youths  check  their  ardent  desire  for 
self-aggrandisement  and  hopes  for  larger  life  or 
higher  calling,  in  order  that  they  may  attend  to 
small  matters  of  family  interest!  How  many 
maidens  sacrifice  their  aspirations  for  the  welfare 
of  their  home!  How  many  mothers  slave  and 
drudge  to  keep  up  ancestral  reputation!  Individ- 
uals are,  figuratively  speaking,  made  vietims  at 
the  shrine  of  family- worship ; their  very  personal- 
ity is  nipped  in  the  bud  at  the  same  altar.  I am 
sure  family-honour  obtains  in  America,  too;  but 
the  conception  of  the  family  is  somewhat  different. 

Our  family  is  based  on  vertical  relations,  on 
successive,  superimposed  generations,  from  parents 
to  children.  Your  system  is,  I think,  based  on  a 
lateral  or  contemporary  alliance,  on  the  relations 
between  persons  of  the  same  generation — namely, 
on  husband  and  wife.  The  conjugal  system  is 
claimed  to  be  Christian  and  ordained  from  on 
high — that  is,  as  long  as  the  parties  are  in  favour 
of  it.  If  conjugality  is  divinely  ordered,  what 
sanction  has  divorce?  Or  is  the  latter,  in  contrast 
to  the  former,  the  work  of  the  evil  one?  Or  does 
God  change  His  mind  now  and  then  according  as 


l6o  THe  Japanese  Nation 

the  two  persons  interested  desire  union  or  separa- 
tion? To  a Christian  novice  like  myself  it  soxmds 
like  taking  the  name  of  the  Lord  in  vain,  when  it 
is  dragged  into  transactions  where  man’s  free  will 
should  be  held  responsible.  I have  no  objection 
to  thanking  God  for  union  in  marriage ; but  if  one 
is  disappointed  in  wedlock,  God  should  not  be 
blamed  for  it.  Marriage  is  a human  institution, 
and  in  a sense  less  divinely  ordered  than  parentage. 
Our  heathen  conception  is  that  the  relation  be- 
tween parent  and  child  is  more  divinely  ordered 
and  ordained.  These  cannot  be  divorced  by  a 
minister  or  by  law.  Christians  claim  that  Adam 
and  Eve  were  the  first  human  beings,  and  therefore 
conjugal  relations  take  precedence  of  all  other 
moral  obligations.  The  heathen,  at  least  the 
Japanese,  contend  that  filial  duty  was  the  first 
moral  conception,  even  antedating  the  parental. 

There  was  a time  in  Eden  when  Eve  was  an 
utter  stranger.  Before  this  long-haired  creature 
appeared,  Adam  had  already  often  communed 
with  his  Maker,  Creator,  Father.  So,  even  accord- 
ing to  the  Biblical  narrative,  a moral  relation  had 
existed  between  Father  and  son  before  that  be- 
tween husband  and  wife;  in  other  words,  filiality 
anteceded  conjugality  in  the  evolution  of  ethics. 
Well-nigh  unknown  among  the  lower  animals,  it 
was  the  first  to  be  felt  by  man. 

In  all  conservative  countries,  reverence  towards 
parents  is  scrupulously  taught  and  observed. 
“Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother,  that  thy 


Morals  and  Moral  Ideals  i6i 

days  may  be  long  upon  the  land  which  the  Lord 
thy  God  giveth  thee.”  Long-lived  nations  have 
been  those  obedient  to  this  commandment. 

Honouring  parents  is,  of  course,  by  no  means 
confined  solely  to  mere  obedience,  or  to  looking 
after  their  physical  wants.  These  are  trivialities 
in  honouring.  To  distinguish  oneself  in  good  works, 
as  Confucius  has  taught,  redounds  to  the  glory 
of  one’s  family  and  is  the  great  filial  duty.  Science 
will,  I presume,  explain  more  and  more  the  mysteri- 
ous laws  of  heredity,  and  the  practical  application 
of  eugenics  and  breeding  will  reveal  the  under- 
lying principles  of  ancestor-worship  and  family 
integrity.  I am  far  from  deprecating  the  place 
of  personality  in  the  scheme  of  moral  economy; 
but  Western  individualism  will,  I am  afraid,  prove 
itself  inadequate  to  cope  with  all  the  pending 
problems  of  life.  As  among  plants  and  animals 
none  can  live  alone,  and  each  can  live  only  by 
being  associated  in  close  relations  to  other  animals 
and  plants  in  its  proximity,  so  the  study  of  human 
ecology — of  immediate  milieu,  of  family  environ- 
ment— will  demonstrate  in  a fresh  light  the  wis- 
dom of  the  older  civilisations  of  the  East.  Balzac 
once  bewailed  the  disintegration  of  the  family  in 
Europe  on  the  ground  that  it  was  at  the  root  of 
modem  social  diseases.  But  I am  not  here  to 
preach.  If  I were  to  preach,  I would  rather  do  so 
to  my  own  countrymen  from  the  text,  ‘‘Say  not 
among  yourselves.  We  have  Abraham  for  our 
father!”  . . . 


II 


i62 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


In  discussing  the  institution  of  the  family,  the 
status  of  woman  must  needs  occupy  a considerable 
part.  Nowhere  is  this  more  true  than  in  the  case 
of  the  Japanese  woman.  She  exists  primarily  for 
and  in  the  family.  We  still  adhere  to  the  old  way 
of  thinking  that  her  natural  habitat  is  the  home, 
and  that  her  appearance  at  the  polls  is  as  unnatural 
as  on  the  battle-field.  Somehow  an  idea — perhaps 
obsolete  in  America — prevails  among  us, — an  idea 
once  voiced  by  Euripides — namely,  that  “a  woman 
should  be  good  for  everything  at  home,  but 
abroad  good  for  nothing.  ” Let  it  be  far  from  me 
to  give  an  impression  already  too  prevalent  abroad 
and  at  home,  that  we  look  upon  women  only  as 
cogs  in  the  machinery  of  the  kitchen  or  as  mere 
puppets  and  ornaments  in  the  parlour.  The  per- 
sonality of  the  fair  sex  is  not  as  clearly  recognised 
among  us  as  it  ought  to  be;  but  I am  confident 
that  it  will  come  with  more  general  enlightenment 
of  public  conscience.  As  it  is  at  present,  the  aim 
of  female  education  is  to  make  “a  good  wife  and 
a wise  mother,  ” — a stereotyped  shibboleth  on  the 
lips  of  all  educators  and  of  the  nation,  circum- 
scribing the  end  and  aim  of  woman’s  life.  Accord- 
ing to  this  doctrine  it  is  not  as  person,  but  as 
wife  and  as  mother,  that  woman  is  to  be  educated. 

i doubt  if  this  dogmatic  allegation  concerning 
the  vocation  of  woman,  without  spiritual  signifi- 
cance attached  to  it,  can  reaUy  be  the  last  w’ord 
to  be  said  concerning  her  sex.”  A Nora  Helmer 
is  not  native  to  Norway  only:  she  is  bom  every- 


Morals  and  Moral  Ideals  163 

where,  wherever  similar  conditions  exist.  Her 
words — “I  believe  that  before  all  else  I am  a 
human  being,  just  as  much  as  you  are” — can  and 
will  be  uttered  in  other  languages  than  Scandinav- 
ian. Consistently  with  our  apotheosis  of  mother- 
craft,  there  are  few  rmmarried  w'omen  among  us. 
Generally  girls  marry  betw'een  the  ages  of  eighteen 
and  twenty-two.  They  seldom  choose  their  own 
partners,  but  still  more  seldom  are  they  forced  to 
marry  those  to  whom  they  object.  Most  enter- 
taining things  are  written  by  foreigners  about 
marriages  forced  upon  unwilling  brides,  and  even 
of  marriages  by  purchase.  I may  just  as  truly 
amuse  and  instruct  my  own  people  with  stories 
about  ambitious  American  parents  practically  sell- 
ing their  daughters  to  European  nobles,  or  of  the 
sorrows  of  manage  de  convenance  in  Europe.  But 
the  comparative  study  of  each  other’s  shortcom- 
ings is  not  edifying — muck-raking  never  is.  There 
are  certainly  more  opportunities  for  American 
girls  to  many’  the  men  whom  they  most  love,  and, 
vice  versa,  for  men  to  take  to  wdfe  girls  whom  they 
like  best;  but  I doubt  whether  the  proportion  of 
happy  unions  is  veiy^  different  in  the  two  countries. 

Should  the  choice  lie  wholly  with  the  parties 
immediately  concerned,  would  they  not  in  most 
cases  profit  by  the  mature  judgment  of  their 
parents,  instead  of  rushing  uncounselled  into  rela- 
tions which  may  prove  a life-long  bondage,  on  the 
slencier  experience  and  in  the  blindness  of  youthful 
love?  I am  not  at  aU  surprised  at  the  number  of 


164  THe  Japanese  Nation 

divorces  in  this  country;  rather  am  I surprised 
that  the  ultimate  causes  which  lead  to  them,  are 
accepted  as  a matter  of  course. 

Is  then  the  lot  of  Japanese  wives  better?  Far 
from  it!  The  number  of  divorces  is  appalling, 
and  is  indeed  a disgrace  to  our  family  system. 
Japan  and  America  head  the  world’s  list  in  numbers 
of  divorces.  I have  purposely  said  that  this  is 
a disgrace  to  our  family  system,  avoiding  the  term 
marriage  system;  for  in  a large  proportion  of  our 
divorces,  the  cause  is  to  be  found  not  in  the 
rupture  of  conjugal  relations,  but  in  the  custom  of 
a married  son  living  under  the  same  roof  with  his 
parents ; in  short,  in  the  universally  notorious  rela- 
tionship between  a wife  and  a mother-in-law!  It 
argues  a marvellous  amount  of  fortitude  and  sweet- 
ness in  the  women  of  Japan  that  they  bear  the 
burden  of  wifehood  and  motherhood  under  condi- 
tions so  exacting.  Without  a deep  sense  of  family 
pride  and  self-abnegation,  it  would  be  impossible 
for  any  woman  of  whatever  race  or  nationahty,  to 
keep  up  the  courage  and  equanimity  of  temper 
that  our  women  do.  I may  add  in  passing  that 
it  is  becoming  more  and  more  the  custom  for 
young  married  couples  to  have  separate  estabhsh- 
ments  of  their  own — a custom  which  is  destined  to 
affect  divorce.  It  is  a remark  heard  quite  often 
among  foreigners  that  some  of  our  old  women 
{obdsan)  have  faces  of  spiritual  maturity,  wearing 
an  expression  of  attainment — the  countenance  of 
one  who  has  fought  a hard  fight  and  won  it.  For, 


Morals  and  Moral  Ideals 


165 


together  with  man,  our  woman  shares  the  Spartan 
teaching  of  patience  and  heroism.  Especially  is 
this  true  of  the  samurai  woman.  She  has  been 
trained  to  inure  her  nerves  to  her  lot.  Sobs  and 
shrieks  have  ever  been  regarded  as  unworthy  of 
her.  She  was  debarred  from  giving  expression  to 
sorrow,  even  if  the  heart,  over- wrought  with  grief, 
should  break.  Verily  she  has  her  reward  in  the 
respect  shown  her  by  all,  and  in  the  adoration  of 
her  children.  As  I have  said  elsewhere,  there  is 
no  more  tender  relation  than  that  between  the 
Japanese  mother  and  her  son. 

Nothing  is  more  erroneous  than  to  regard  the 
general  character  of  our  women  as  anything  like 
that  of  the  geisha  type.  The  very  raison  d'etre  of 
the  latter  class  lay  in  the  fact  that  our  wives  and 
mothers  were  sedate  and  even  stem.  ‘ ‘ home-made 
bodies,  ” with  little  tact  for  entertaining  and  much 
less  for  amusing,  better  versed  in  ancient  poems 
than  in  the  newest  songs,  more  deft  with  needle 
and  spear  than  with  the  guitar  and  the  samisen. 
The  presence  of  professional  entertainers — dancers 
and  singers — in  our  society  has  called  forth  much 
criticism  both  from  our  own  people  and  from  for- 
eigners. The  geisha  are  not  necessarily  “bad 
women,”  as  you  call  them,  not  any  worse  profes- 
sionally than  the  actresses  and  vaudeville  artistes 
of  America.  There  is  little  immodesty  inherent 
in  their  vocation,  but  danger  to  feminine  probity 
there  certainly  is.  I am  afraid,  however,  that 
they  will  continue  to  be  in  demand  until  our  wives 


i66  THe  Japanese  Nation 

and  daughters  learn  the  art  of  entertaining  their 
guests  and  appear  more  freely  in  society.  The 
presence  of  the  geisha  does  not  of  necessity  argue 
immorality.  As  I have  said  in  the  early  part  of 
this  lecture,  there  is  a recognised  margin  of  de- 
corum in  their  deportment  and  treatment. 

Plutarch  tells  us  that  the  ambition  of  a Spartan 
woman  was  to  be  the  wife  of  a great  man  and  the 
mother  of  illustrious  sons.  Bushido  set  no  lower 
ideal  before  our  maidens ; their  whole  bringing  up 
was  in  accordance  with  this  view.  They  were 
instructed  in  many  martial  practices  for  the  sake 
of  self-defence,  that  they  might  safeguard  their 
person  and  their  children ; in  the  art  of  committing 
suicide,  that  in  case  no  alternative  opened  to  save 
them  from  disgrace,  they  might  end  their  lives  in 
due  order  and  in  comely  fashion.  That  she  might 
keep  her  honour  spotless,  upon  leaving  the  threshold 
of  her  father’s  house,  every  maiden  was  given  a 
dagger  to  use  it  upon  herself  in  extremity.  Such 
a dagger  was  called  goshin-to,  “the  protector  of 
one’s  person.”  She  had  already  learned  exactly 
where  to  cut  her  throat  and  how  to  bind  her  lower 
limbs,  so  that  in  the  agony  of  death  she  might  not 
throw  them  about  indecently.  Peaceful  accom- 
plishments— music,  dancing,  beUes-lettres,  the  ar- 
ranging of  flowers,  etc. — were  not  to  be  neglected, 
but  readiness  for  emergency,  housekeeping,  and 
the  education  of  children  were  considered  by  far 
the  most  weighty  lessons  to  be  learned. 

If  Stoicism  is  insisted  upon  for  woman,  much 


Morals  and  Moral  Ideals  167 

more  is  it  reqtdred  of  man ; so  that  no  sooner  is  the 
heart  stirred  than  the  will  is  brought  into  reflex 
action  to  subdue  it.  Is  a man  angry?  It  is  bad 
taste  to  rage;  let  him  laugh  out  his  indignation! 
Has  tribidation  stricken  him?  Let  him  bury  his 
tears  in  smiles.  If  he  must  vary  from  an  even 
temperature — say  seventy  degrees! — in  his  de- 
meanour, since  nature  will  never  remain  long  in 
equilibrium,  let  him  be  warm  within  and  cold 
without;  but  let  him  see  to  it  that  he  freezes 
nobody  and  throws  a wet  blanket  upon  none.  It 
is  a common  remark  that  the  Japanese  are  a light- 
hearted, mirth-loving  people  and  that  the  girls 
are  ever  giggling  doUs.  This  is  due  to  their  idea 
that  cheerfulness  is  a part  of  poHteness. 

The  idea  of  pohteness  is,  au  fond,  to  make  your 
company  and  companionship  agreeable  to  others. 
It  is  the  first  requisite  of  good  society.  Bows  and 
courtesies  are  but  a small  part  of  good-breeding. 
Etiquette  is  not  an  end  in  culture ; it  is  one  of  the 
many  ways  whereby  man  may  foster  his  social 
nature.  In  drinking  tea,  it  is  a slight  affair  how 
you  handle  your  spoon,  but  it  is  never  too  slight 
to  show  what  you  are.  “Manners  make  the  man.  ’’ 
Stoicism  and  politeness,  apparently  so  far  apart, 
are  in  reality  brother  and  sister:  he  bears  all  that 
she  may  shine;  without  her,  he  is  stoHd;  without 
him,  she  is  trivial. 

Not  infrequently  have  politeness  and  probity 
been  set  in  opposition,  as  though  the  two  must  at 
times  tread  different  paths.  Confucius  himself 


i68  THe  Japanese  Nation 

has  said,  “In  pleasant  countenance  and  gentle 
words  there  is  little  benevolence,”  and  some  of 
his  followers  have  gone  to  the  extent  of  desecrating 
pleasant  manners  and  speech,  indirectly  encourag- 
ing brusqueness  and  boorishmess,  forgetting  that 
rusticity  is  just  as  likely  to  harbour  vice  as  is 
urbanity.  If  one  is  bent  upon  deceiving,  manners 
set  no  barrier  to  this  intent.  Sincerity  has  little 
connection  with  man’s  outward  mien,  and  what 
etiquette  requires  does  not  always  involve  moral 
issues.  Etiquette  stands  between  morals  and  art. 
She  must  combine  in  her  person  rectitude  and 
charm.  Hence  her  behaviour  must  not  be  judged 
by  either  standard  alone.  Is  not  this  the  reason 
why  the  so-called  conventional  lies  of  society  are 
not  condemned  with  the  rigour  which  is  meted  to 
mendacity  in  general?  It  is  to  this  civil  kind  of 
falsehood  that  Byron’s  words  may  be  applied; 

“And  after  all,  what  is  a lie?  ’T  is  but 
The  truth  in  masquerade.” 

Now  I have  never  studied  lying — by  w'hich  I 
do  not  mean  that  lying  comes  natural  to  me.  I 
mean  that  I have  never  devoted  serious  attention 
to  the  philosophy  or  history  of  mendacity ; neither 
to  its  classification,  characteristics,  and  different 
uses,  nor  to  its  effect  upon  man  and  woman.  It  is  a 
matter  of  surprise  to  me  that  no  scientific  treatise 
(unless  it  be  the  didactic  dissertation  by  Amelia 
Opie)  has  been  written  on  an  intellectual  feat  so 


Morals  and  Moral  Ideals  169 

old  and  universal ; a device  so  convenient  and  his- 
torically so  important.  Just  at  this  moment  what 
interests  me  most  is  its  chromatic  quality — the 
relation  between  Hght  and  lie.  In  Japan  there  is 
only  one  colour  for  a lie — viz.,  the  red.  B.ut  in 
this  rich  coimtry,  you  have  at  least  two  species — 
the  black  and  the  white.  Like  the  colours  worn 
by  different  Hindu  castes,  the  white  is,  I suppose, 
of  a higher  grade  than  the  black.  They  corre- 
spond, I think,  to  the  “lie  direct”  and  the  “lie 
circumstantial”  of  Mr.  Touchstone  in  “As  You 
Like  Itr 

To  our  benighted  souls  the  verbal  denial  of  a 
disagreeable  situation  (such  as  the  state  of  one’s 
health)  does  not  assume  any  hideous  moral  or 
immoral  aspect.  It  scarcely  deserves  to  be  called 
a red  lie.  Perhaps  you  would  call  it  a white  lie; 
but  impartial  comparison  will  soon  reveal  in  what 
respect  it  differs  from  a species  of  the  same  genus, 
not  unknown  in  this  coimtry — feigning  absence 
when  one  is  at  home.  Of  late,  unfortunately  for 
both  coimtries,  there  seems  to  have  developed  the 
yellow  He  of  joumahsm.  Referring  to  yellow  jour- 
nalism, I am  reminded  of  a use  of  this  adjective 
in  our  own  language ; for  we  have  always  spoken 
of  a shrill  excited  voice  as  ki-iro  no  koe,  voice  of 
yellow  color ! 

Speaking  of  Japanese  Hes,  I ought  not  to  forget 
to  mention  the  American  lie  about  Japanese  lying, 
which  has  been  widely  circulated  in  this  country, 
and  is  constantly  confirmed  by  tourists.  You 


ijo  The  Japanese  Nation 

must  have  heard  that  in  Japanese  banks  only 
Chinese  tellers  and  clerks  are  employed,  because 
our  own  people  are  too  dishonest  to  be  trusted  by 
each  other.  In  corroboration  of  this  accusation, 
those  who  have  gone  to  banks  in  Yokohama  or 
Kobe  swear  to  the  startling  fact.  “I  have  been 
on  the  spot  and  have  seen  with  my  own  eyes” — 
carries  great  weight  in  the  determination  of  any 
question.  I myself  have  seen  Chinese  employed 
in  banks  in  Japan,  but  not  in  Japanese  banks. 
Tourists  in  the  Far  East,  for  obvious  reason  of 
convenience,  usually  have  their  letters  of  credit 
drawn  on  English  banks.  Those  who  come  to 
Japan  have  them  drawn  either  on  the  Chartered 
Bank  of  Australia,  India,  and  China,  or  on  the 
Banking  Corporation  of  Honkong  and  Shanghai, 
instead  of  on  one  of  the  two  thousand  three  htmdred 
and  thirty-seven  Japanese  banks  in  the  country". 
Where  these  British  houses  have  their  headquar- 
ters, is  evident  from  their  names.  Their  agencies 
in  Japan  are  only  a small  part  of  their  business, 
and  their  transactions  with  the  Japanese  are  quite 
limited — their  chief  patrons  being  foreigners. 
Naturally  their  staff  is  also  British,  and  the 
lower  personnel  is  supplied  by  the  Chinese,  who 
are  sent  from  headquarters.  I do  not  believe 
there  are  even  Americans  at  work  in  these  British 
houses,  but  that  does  not  prove  the  dishonesty 
of  Americans  any  more  than  does  the  absence  of 
Americans  in  a branch  office  of  the  Royal  Bank  of 
Canada  or  of  the  Credit  Lyonnais  in  New  York  or 


Morals  and  Moral  Ideals  171 

Chicago.  Suppose  a Japanese  comes  to  this  coun- 
try: he  is  provided  with  a letter  of  credit  to  the 
New  York  agency  of  the  Specie  Bank  of  Yoko- 
hama; so  he- wends  his  way  for  his  money  to  No. 
58  Wall  Street,  finds  a big  and  busy  place  and  sees 
many  people,  among  whom,  however,  except  the 
stenographers  and  messengers,  he  sees  no  Ameri- 
cans. Suppose,  on  his  return  home,  he  goes  about 
saying,  “In  America  the  people  are  so  dishonest 
that  no  American  tellers  are  employed,  ’’  should  he 
not  be  believed?  Believed?  Why  he  was  there 
and  saw  with  his  own  eyes!  I am  sure  he  will 
thrill  his  audienee  if  he  closes  his  speech  with  the 
patriotic  inference,  “The  honesty  of  our  country- 
men is  so  well  established  that  in  American  banks 
only  Japanese  tellers  are  employed!’’ 

There  is  no  opprobium  cast  on  Japanese  charac- 
ter more  widely  accepted  than  this  fable  of  our 
employing  Chinese  in  our  banks.  Before  I left 
the  country  on  my  present  trip,  I made  investiga- 
tion as  to  whether  a single  Japanese  bank  employed 
Chinese  as  clerks,  tellers  or  compradores.  Since 
my  arrival  I have  continued  my  inquiries,  and  here 
is  the  reply  from  our  agent  in  Wall  Street,  explain- 
ing more  fully  than  I have  done,  the  real  situation : 


“ China  having  for  many  years  been  a silver-using 
country,  and  there  being  no  proper  coin  of  fixed 
weight,  size,  and  fineness,  but  silver  bullion  of  every 
description  as  to  the  fineness  and  size  being  used 
as  medium  of  exchange,  the  Chinese  people  have 


172 


The  Japanese  Nation 


naturally  become  more  or  less  experienced  and  trained 
not  only  to  easily  distinguish  good  silver  from  bad, 
but  almost  to  tell  its  fineness  by  the  ring  of  the 
metal  when  touched  with  a metal  rod. 

It  is  therefore  quite  natural  that  so-called  silver 
experts  are  found  among  the  Chinese.  Considering 
the  monetary  system  prevailing  in  China,  these  people 
are  quite  necessary  for  the  banks  that  are  carrying  on 
business  in  that  country. 

Before  Japan  adopted  the  gold  standard,  as  I previ- 
ously explained,  silver  was  fractionally  the  only 
circulating  medium  in  Japan.  Even  trade  dollars 
were  used  to  supplement  the  Japanese  coinage.  Japan 
having  had  legal-tender  notes  and  coins  issued  by 
the  Government  for  generations,  her  people  naturally 
lacked  the  acquaintance  with,  and  consequently  the 
knowledge  of  silver  bullion,  and  were  not  so  well 
fitted  to  detect  the  variation  in  fineness  as  the  Chinese 
experts.  This  is  the  reason  why  a few  Chinese  silver 
experts  were  at  one  time  employed  even  in  Japan  by 
the  Yokohama  Specie  Bank,  Limited,  a Japanese 
concern  engaged  in  international  exchange,  and  in 
similar  lines ; but  with  the  gold  standard  firmly  estab- 
lished in  Japan,  there  was  no  longer  a reason  for  the 
employment  of  Chinese  silver  experts  in  that  bank  or 
in  any  foreign  banking  institution  in  Japan. 

There  is  also  a commercial  reason  for  the  employ- 
ment of  Chinese  by  the  foreign  (not  Japanese)  banks. 
According  to  commercial  usage  among  the  Chinese, 
the  seller  of  a shipment  of  goods  draws  a clean  bill 
of  exchange  upon  the  buyer,  but  not  a documentary 
bill,  i.  e.,  a bill  of  exchange  with  the  shipping  docu- 
ments attached.  In  other  words,  they  do  not  hypoth- 


Morals  and  Moral  Ideals 


173 


ecate  the  goods  to  the  bank  as  security  for  the  draft. 
It  is,  therefore,  difficult  for  the  bank  to  determine 
whether  a clean  draft  which  they  are  about  to  negoti- 
ate is  actually  commercial  paper  or  not.  To  be  able 
to  act  intelligently  on  this  point,  and  also  as  there  is 
no  Chinese  mercantile  agency  that  can  supply  the 
desired  information  regarding  the  financial  standing 
of  Chinese  merchants,  as  is  practised  in  Japan  and 
elsewhere,  it  has  been  considered  advantageous  for 
the  bank  to  employ  a reliable  Chinese  whose  influence 
and  financial  responsibility  may  be  sufficient  to  safe- 
guard the  interests  of  the  banks.  But,  as  I have 
stated  before,  the  tendency  to  do  away  vdth  any  kind 
of  middlemen,  and  to  reach  the  objective  directly 
and  straight,  seems  to  prevail  also  in  this  direction, 
and  as  far  as  Japan  and  Japanese  institutions,  whether 
banking  or  commercial,  are  concerned,  there  no  longer 
exists  any  necessity  for  Chinese  employment.” 

We  have  stayed  long  enough  in  the  bank — 
longer  perhaps  than  we  are  warranted  in  doing. 
When  business  is  merely  a matter  of  yen  and  sen, 
it  is  quickly  despatched — but  a question  of  credit 
and  morality  necessitates  more  deliberate  trans- 
actions. Bushido,  w’hich  furnished  the  nation  at 
large  with  the  canons  of  right  conduct,  was  origi- 
nally, as  I have  explained,  intended  only  for  the 
samurai,  and  the  tradespeople  were  little  thought 
of  in  its  scheme,  or,  perhaps  more  accurately, 
the  tradespeople  httle  thought  of  it.  The  com- 
mon, every-day,  democratic  virtues  of  honest  deal- 
ing, prudence,  cheerfulness,  diligence,  were  held 


174  XHe  Japanese  Nation 

secondary  to  the  higher  virtues  of  patriotism, 
loyalty,  friendship,  benevolence,  and  rectitude. 

As  the  traditions  of  Bushido  decline  with  the 
progress  of  democracy,  hastened  by  the  importa- 
tions of  the  “new  school’’  of  popular  thought — 
Nietsche,  Tolstoy,  Ibsen,  Bernard  Shaw,  and 
others, — the  old  system  of  teaching  must  go,  but 
before  any  one  of  the  new  schools  can  obtain 
ascendancy  (and  I cannot  believe  that  any  one  of 
them  will,  since  acorns  are  much  of  the  same  size) 
the  transition  must  somehow  be  passed  through. 

As  was  the  case  during  the  French  Revolution, 
when  ethical  theories  were  propounded  and  re- 
ligious systems  galore  were  proposed,  so  in  the  intel- 
lectual revolution  of  modem  Japan  there  has  been 
no  lack  of  scientific  theorists  and  rehgion-mongers 
— all  too  eager  to  impose  upon  their  countrymen 
the  wares  of  their  own  making.  As  a general 
thing,  the  characteristic  which  mns  through  most 
of  them  is  their  appeal  to  patriotism.  If  they 
wish  to  arouse  moral  enthusiasm,  they  teach  us  to 
be  upright,  in  order  to  be  faithful  subjects  of  His 
Majesty.  If  they  desire  us  to  grow  in  piety,  we 
must  increase  our  faith  in  the  mission  of  our  nation. 
Broad  views  of  humanity,  the  recognition  of  a 
world-standard  of  right  and  wrong,  the  deepening 
of  personal  responsibility — ^irrespective  of  race  or 
nation — are  too  often  sadly  lacking  in  the  systems 
of  ethics  and  in  the  religions  proposed.  Preposter- 
ous notions  have  been  encouraged  in  the  name  of 
patriotism  and  loyalty.  Their  gospel  gives  an 


Morals  and  Moral  Ideals 


175 


impression  that  we  are  a special  ethical  creation 
with  gifts  peculiar  to  ourselves,  and  that  we  must, 
accordingly,  be  Japanese  before  we  are  men. 

Any  claim  to  moral  peculiarity — much  less  to 
moral  perfection — ^by  any  people,  will  be  found 
futile.  The  Volkergedanken  theory  has  been  tried 
as  a working  hypothesis  but  found  wanting. 
Human  natxire  is  much  the  same  everywhere,  and 
it  is  this  one  touch  that  makes  “the  whole  world 
kin.”  There  are  no  exotics  in  the  domain  of 
ethics.  Propriety  and  impropriety  may  be  cli- 
matic products  like  the  colour  of  the  skin,  but 
right  and  wrong  are  concepts  above  the  pale  of 
meteorology.  Social  usages  may  vary  with  geo- 
graphical limits,  like  the  food  we  eat ; but  good  and 
evil  are  not  bound  by  them.  The  historical  devel- 
opment of  each  nation  has  imposed  modifications 
upon  the  outward  manifestations  of  moral  ideas, 
but  they  remain  in  their  essence  identical  through- 
out the  world,  and  eternal.  At  present,  as  never 
before,  is  universal  standardisation  displacing  local- 
ism and  nationahsm,  in  every  higher  sphere  of 
human  activity.  If  in  manners  and  customs,  if  in 
language  and  art,  if  in  forms  of  government  and 
society.  East  is  East  and  West  is  West,  moral  law 
has  no  respect  for  points  of  the  compass,  demand- 
ing of  both  hemispheres  equal  obedience.  As  said 
an  ancient  writer; 

" The  world  in  all  doth  but  two  nations  bear, — 

The  good  and  bad,  and  these  mixed  everywhere.” 


CHAPTER  VII 

EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  PROBLEMS 

AS  far  as  our  system  of  education  is  concerned, 
it  was  founded  on  an  elaborate  basis  as  early 
as  the  eighth  century,  at  the  time  when  Buddhist 
and  Confucian  influences  were  fresh  and  vigor- 
ous. You  can  see  from  the  date  that  it  antedated 
Charlemagne’s  Ordinance  of  Education  by  nearly 
a century,  and  the  foimding  of  Oxford  by  nearly 
two  hundred  years. 

How  far  the  system  was  put  in  practice,  it  is  not 
easy  to  say  definitely.  But  judging  by  so  many 
Chinese  schemes  that  are  beautifully  conceived 
without  hope  of  being  bom,  one  is  inclined  to 
imagine  that  the  schools  and  universities  largely 
remained  on  paper.  Perhaps  this  is  too  severe  a 
charge,  since  we  are  told  of  magnificent  academic 
halls  and  of  learned  men  who  bore  high-sounding 
titles.  We  will  at  least  give  credit  to  our  fore- 
fathers, however,  for  their  noble  idea;  for,  after 
all,  ideas  are  seeds — as  long  as  they  do  not  lose 
their  vitality. 

The  history  of  education,  like  the  life-history 
176 


Education  and  Educational  Problems  177 

of  a plant,  has  its  seasons  of  feebleness  and  of 
strength,  of  retrogression  and  of  development. 
Under  unfavourable  conditions  it  simply  remains 
buried,  biding  the  time  to  germinate.  Was  it  not 
so  in  Europe?  I make  this  commonplace  remark 
in  order  that  we  may  remind  ourselves  how  unfair 
is  the  saying  that  Asia  is  a land  of  arrested  growth, 
that  all  great  ideas  seem  there  to  be  applied  and 
carried  up  to  a certain  point  and  are  then  stopped. 
Who  knows  whether  the  seed  that  lay  dormant 
for  a season  or  two — and  some  seeds  retain  vitality 
for  decades  and  centuries — was  killed?  An  idea 
once  conceived  is  indeed  the  hardest  thing  to  slay. 
You  beat  it,  and  with  each  stroke  it  waxes  stronger. 
You  suppress  it,  and  every  pound  of  pressure 
helps  to  make  it  more  buoyant.  Only  a forgotten 
idea  weakens.  Who  can  tell  whether  Asia’s  ideas, 
apparently  long  forgotten  and  weakened,  may  not 
still  rise  again — not,  I hope,  like  hordes  of  Huns 
and  Tartars  to  devastate  mankind,  but  to  fructify 
the  earth  hand  in  hand  with  European  ideas.  It 
seems  to  me  that,  in  the  providence  of  the  Al- 
mighty, the  Asiatic  seed  was  made  to  wait  until 
the  European  should  catch  up.  Youth  takes 
count  of  time  in  days,  age  in  years.  A cycle  of 
Old  Cathay  is  even  as  long  as  half  a century  of 
Europe.  The  plodding  patience  of  the  East  is  to 
be  admired  no  less  than  the  swift  energy  of  the 
West.  When  the  two  meet,  we  may  see  some 
result — a result  now  beginning  to  be  visible  (par- 
don my  egotism!)  in  the  education  of  Japan. 


178  XHe  Japanese  Nation 

The  educational  idea  conceived  of  Buddhism 
and  Confucianism  in  the  Nara  period,  seemed  for 
some  time  to  give  signs  of  vigour;  then  it  was 
buried  under  a mass  of  other  interests  and  for 
centuries  practically  forgotten.  It  was  remem- 
bered and  forgotten  at  odd  intervals,  and  barely 
kept  up  a semblance  of  vitality  in  monasteries 
during  the  turbulent  period  of  what  I called  the 
Late  Mediaeval  Age.  Only  as  peace  was  restored 
and  maintained  under  the  Tokugawas  d d educa- 
tion come  to  receive  its  share  of  attention.  The 
Seido  (the  Temple  of  the  Sages),  in  Tokyo,  and 
a number  of  local  institutions  of  higher  learning 
maintained  by  the  mtmificence  of  the  daimyos, 
were  an  embodiment  of  the  earliest  ideas  of  educa- 
tion. All  these  institutions  laid  stress  only  on  the 
study  of  Chinese  literature  and  Chinese  histOIy^ 
Their  aim  was  cultural  and  literary.  The  method 
pursued  was  largely  memorising  and  interpreta- 
tion of  the  classics,  made  more  or  less  lively  by 
disputation  among  students.  The  object  was 
mainly  to  train  men  for  the  service  of  the  State, 
and  hence  it  was  almost  entirely  confined  to  the 
higher  classes.  As  to  the  lower  orders  of  society, 
upon  the  Buddhist  priests  devolved  the  duty  of 
imparting  elementary  knowledge,  though  they  did 
not  monopolise  it. 

Old  samurai  who  had  retired  from  active  ser- 
vice, very  often  opened  a school.  To  give  a 
concrete  example,  I myself  used  to  attend  such  a 
primitive  school,  which  consisted  of  a couple 


Education  and  Educational  Problems  179 

of  rooms  where  some  twenty  or  thirty  boys  (and 
a very  few  girls),  ranging  in  age  from  seven 
to  fourteen,  spent  the  forenoon,  each  reading  in 
turn  with  the  teacher  for  half  an  hour,  some  para- 
graphs from  Confucius  and  Mencius,  and  devot- 
ing the  rest  of  the  time  to  caligraphy.  Of  the  three 
R’s,  ’riting  demanded  most  time  and  reading  but 
little,  ’rithmetic  scarcely  any,  except  in  a school 
attended  by  children  of  the  common  people  as 
distinct  from  those  of  the  samurai.  Sons  of  the 
samurai  class  had  other  curricula  than  the  three 
R’s.  They  began  fencing,  jiujutsu,  spear-practice, 
and  horsemanship,  when  quite  young,  and  usually 
took  these  lessons  in  the  early  morning.  As  a child 
of  seven,  I remember  being  roused  by  my  mother 
before  dawn  in  the  winter  and  reluctantly,  often 
in  positively  bad  humour,  picking  my  way  bare- 
footed through  the  snow.  The  idea  was  to  accus- 
tom children  to  hardihood  and  endurance.  There 
was  little  fun  in  the  school-room,  except  such  as 
our  ingenious  minds  devised  behind  our  teacher’s 
back.  With  Puritanic  austerity  were  children 
treated — not  like  children  but  like  men.  How 
could  they  be  expected  to  grasp  the  Confucian 
category  of  virtues!  They  just  read  and  recited 
by  rote — with  less  comprehension  than  boys  and 
girls  here  learn  Bibhcal  texts.  What  effect  such 
mental  training  must  have  on  the  mind,  I leave  to 
psychologists  to  discuss.  This  much  is  certain, 
that  we  grew  up  with  no  idea  of  physical  or 
natural  science,  no  idea  of  mathematics,  except 


i8o  The  Japanese  Nation 

the  first  four  rules,  no  idea  of  geography — if  I were 
to  go  on  enumerating  the  many  things  nowadays 
taught  in  elementary  schools  we  did  not  learn, 
I should  have  to  give  the  entire  list — and  thus  is 
evident  the  weakness  of  our  old  pedagogic  scheme. 
Its  advantages  over  the  modem  system  lay  in  its 
cultural  value,  in  its  alliance  with  daily  conduct, 
in  its  solemn  deontology — in  one  word,  in  its 
character-building  aspect. 

I would  by  no  persuasion  exchange  the  present 
system  for  the  old;  but  let  us  do  honour  to  the 
latter  for  its  efficiency  in  making  the  men  who  so 
wonderfully  paved  the  way  for  the  former.  Only 
men  unselfish  in  character,  strong  in  conviction, 
and  far-seeing  in  intellect,  could  have  done  what 
they  did  in  leading  a nation  of  thirty-five  millions 
from  mediaeval  darkness  toward  the  light  of  the 
promised  land.  The  nation  has  been  on  this  jour- 
ney over  forty  years,  and  if  we  have  not  been 
seriously  lost  in  the  desert,  we  have  had  to  en- 
counter the  Ammonites,  Hittites,  and  other  giants 
during  the  march. 

Let  me  now  relate  how  we  first  made  our  exodus. 

When  the  present  Emperor,  on  the  occasion  of 
his  accession  to  the  throne,  annoimced  his  charter 
oath  of  five  articles,  he  made  it  clear  that  enlight- 
ened democracy  was  to  be  the  great  aim  of  his 
reign,  and  that  this  could  be  secured  only  by  diffu- 
sion of  intelligence.  Men.  trained  imder  the  old 
regime  were  able,  wise,  and  noble ; but  they  did  not 
know  “things  new  and  Western.  ” They  had  wis- 


Ediacation  and  Educational  Problems  i8i 


dom,  but  not  knowledge.  They  did  away  with 
the  shogunacy  and  with  feudalism,  but  what  should 
they  give  instead? 

A comparatively  small  quantity  of  new  wine  so 
effervesced  in  the  old  wine-skin  that  it  burst,  and 
then  came  the  question,  “WTiere  and  how  can 
we  get  a new  vine-skin?”  “At  the  same  time,” 
they  said,  “let  us  renew  the  wine  itself.  ” There- 
fore, in  the  first  years  of  this  new  era,  a plan  for 
universal  education  was  drafted,  and  as  the  new 
era  was  new  in  its  conceptions  and  conditions,  new 
ideas  and  new  men  were  needed. 

The  plan  suggested  at  this  exigency  was  virtu- 
ally a translation  of  the  French  educational  system, 
which  was  naturally  very  soon  found  to  be  imprac- 
ticable without  modification.  While  revision  was 
under  discussion,  the  epoch-making  embassy  of 
1871  left  Japan  to  pay  a visit  to  the  treaty  Powers. 

Among  the  members  of  this  embassy  were  two 
of  the  greatest  men  of  modem  Japan — Okubo  and 
Kido.  On  their  arrival  in  San  Francisco  nothing 
astonished  them  so  much  as  the  intelligence  of 
the  American  people.  Just  at  that  time,  some 
sort  of  election  was  going  on.  Our  ambassadors 
noticed  the  widespread  excitement,  but  could  not 
believe  that  the  hotel  employes,  waiters,  and  bell- 
boys, really  knew  what  they  were  doing  at  the 
polls.  A few  questions  put  to  these  men,  however, 
ver>’-  soon  showed  that  they  knew  what  they  were 
talking  about — why  they  were  voting  for  this  or 
for  that  candidate.  This'  single  experience  was 


i82  The  Japanese  Nation 

enough  to  convince  Okubo  and  Kido  that  only  by 
education  could  new  Japan  stand  erect  and  keep 
pace  with  the  Western  world.  Deserving  of  men- 
tion, too,  is  the  attitude  of  these  two  men  as 
regards  the  initiatory  step  to  be  taken  in  the  cause 
of  national  education.  Okubo  said:  “We  must 
first  educate  leaders,  train  such  young  men  as  will 
fill  high  positions,  and  the  rest  will  follow;  or,  if 
they  do  not  follow,  the  leaders  will  piill  them  up.  ” 
Kido  said:  “We  must  educate  the  masses;  for 
unless  the  people  are  trained,  they  cannot  follow 
their  leaders,  or  if  they  follow,  it  will  never  do  for 
them  to  follow  blindly.” 

The  inspiration  which  they  incidentally  received 
in  San  Francisco  proved  a pregnant  factor  in  the 
progress  of  their  country.  In  the  cabinet,  Kido 
took  by  preference  the  portfolio  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Instruction,  and  though  he  soon  after 
resigned,  the  work  of  general  education  steadily 
grew  in  influence  and  efficiency. 

The  first  draft  of  the  law  under  discussion  was 
nothing  more  than  a translation  of  Napoleon’s 
Law  of  Education.  That  it  could  not  work  goes 
without  saying.  Revision  after  revision  was  at- 
tempted, until  the  whole  code  was  given  up. 
About  this  time  American  influences  became 
pre-dominant  through  the  employment  by  our 
government  of  Dr.  David  Murray  and  Professor 
M.  M.  Scott.  Then,  too,  popular  interest  in  liberal 
education  was  aroused  among  our  people  through 
Spencer’s  work  on  education.  But  no  definite  step 


Education  and  Educational  Problems  183 

towards  radical  reform  or  organised  reconstruc- 
tion was  undertaken  until  Viscount  Mori  assumed 
the  task  in  1885.  An  ardent  admirer  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  spirit  and  institutions,  and  a thorough 
student  of  the  educational  systems  of  the  world, 
he  was  the  one  man  fitted  to  do  this,  and  it  is 
chiefly  to  him  that  we  ow'e  our  present  system. 

I shall  begin  with  an  outline  of  our  primary  in- 
struction, which,  by  the  way,  is  more  like  that  of 
America  than  of  any  other  country. 

In  the  elementary  schools,  all  the  instruction 
imparted  is  in  Japanese,  and  no  foreign  language 
is  taught  in  them,  if  one  excepts  a few  schools  in 
large  cities.  The  teachers  are  usually  of  both 
sexes.  Over  one  hundred  and  forty -four  thousand 
teachers  (nearly  forty  thousand  being  women)  are 
engaged  in  the  schools,  which  are  attended  by 
about  six  million  pupils.  The  proportion  of  child- 
ren in  attendance  to  the  total  number  of  children 
of  school-age  is  98.8  per  cent,  for  boys  and  97.2  per 
cent,  for  girls — a remarkably  high  percentage,  which 
can  bear  comparison  with  that  of  any  country. 
But  the  attendance  of  school  is  not  an  unerring 
criterion  of  educational  efficiency,  though  it  shows 
that  the  law  of  compulsory  and  universal  education 
is  well  enforced.  It  gives  no  clue  to  the  quality 
of  instruction.  Of  course,  among  such  large  num- 
bers there  are  many  who  are  sent  to  school  just  a 
sufficient  number  of  hours  or  days  to  conform  to 
the  letter  of  the  law,  and  are  engaged  part  of  the 
year  in  sw'elling  the  army  of  child  labourers.  As 


184  TKe  Japanese  Nation 

to  the  effect  of  instruction  obtained  in  schools,  its 
value  is  greatly  diminished  by  the  use  of  Chinese 
characters.  Children,  during  the  eight  years  of 
their  elementary  schooling,  are  expected  to  master 
some  two  thousand  of  these  characters — most  of 
which  they  will  not  use  frequently  and  which  will 
naturally  slip  out  of  their  memory  in  a short  time. 
It  is  no  wonder  that  by  the  time  boys  are  called 
for  army  conscription  at  the  age  of  twenty,  many 
of  them  have  forgotten  the  more  complex  charac- 
ters. With  all  the  drawbacks,  inherent  not  so 
much  in  our  educational  system  as  in  the  language 
itself,  our  primary  education — ^which,  by  the  way, 
was  largely  modified  after  the  American  and  later 
after  the  Belgian  pattern,  but  now  so  changed 
from  either  that  it  may  be  called  genuinely  Japan- 
ese— ^is  quite  satisfactory.  Teachers  in  these 
schools,  in  spite  of  a mere  pittance  of  salary  (a 
monthly  average  of  sixteen  yen),  keep  pretty  well 
up-to-date  by  their  attendance  of  summer  schools, 
and  their  connection  with  educational  societies. 
They  are  respected  in  the  communities  in  which 
they  live.  On  the  whole,  her  primary  education 
is  a feature  of  which  modem  Japan  has  reason  to 
be  proud. 

The  same  cannot  be  said  of  our  secondary 
schools,  corresponding  to  your  high  schools.  These 
receive  the  children  who  have  finished  their  pri- 
mary education;  but  as  there  is  no  co-education 
(except  in  the  elementary  grades  already  men- 
tioned), separate  institutions  are  provided — those 


Education  and  Edvicational  Problems  185 

for  boys  being  called  Chugakko,  Middle  Schools, 
and  those  for  girls,  High  Schools.  Of  this  grade, 
there  are  three  hundred  schools  for  boys  (118,000 
in  number),  and  one  hxmdred  and  eighty  for  girls 
(52,000).  They  vary  in  capacity,  seating  from 
two  himdred  and  fifty  to  four  hundred,  exceeding 
this  last  number  only  in  exceptional  cases. 

In  conformity  with  the  “ good-wife-and-wise- 
mother  ” principle  of  female  education,  the  Govern- 
ment offers  to  young  women  very  few  opportimities 
for  higher  education  than  that  afforded  in  high 
schools  and  normal  schools.  There  are  Normal 
Colleges  for  women;  but,  as  their  name  indi- 
cates, they  are  for  a very  definite  purpose.  The 
Academy  of  Fine  Arts  and  the  Conservatory  of 
Music  are  naturally  open  to  both  sexes.  A curious 
fact,  hard  to  account  for  in  so  progressive  a Gov- 
ernment as  ours,  is  the  chronic  reluctance  it  has 
shown  toward  the  higher  education  of  women.  Its 
function  in  this  respect  seems  to  have  been  con- 
fined to  a tardy  recognition  of  work  done  by  pri- 
vate enterprise.  At  present,  therefore,  there  are 
private  institutions  of  excellent  reputation — the 
so-called  “Women’s  University’’  under  Mr.  Nar- 
use.  Miss  Tsuda’s  English  School,  two  or  three 
well-equipped  seminaries  under  missionary  man- 
agement— doing  work  such  as  the  Government 
has  failed  to  make  possible  by  its  own  initiative 
and  on  its  own  responsibility. 

A large  majority  of  middle  schools  is  main- 
tained by  local  bodies — prefectural  or  municipal. 


i86  XHe  Japanese  Nation 

Whereas  in  elementary  education,  which  is  com- 
pulsory, no  tuition  is  charged  unless  otherwise 
decided  by  the  local  bodies,  and  in  no  case  exceeds 
five  sen  a month  in  the  rural  and  ten  sen  in  the 
municipal  schools,  the  secondary  schools  charge 
usually  about  three  yen  a month.  When  there  are 
dormitories,  room  and  board  cost  about  six  to 
eight  yen  a month.  The  course  of  studies  pre- 
scribed for  intermediate  education  covers  much 
the  same  ground  as  it  does  in  this  country  with 
this  difference — that  no  Creek  or  Latin  is  taught, 
nor  is  German  or  French.  The  cultural  equivalents 
to  your  dead  languages  are  Chinese  and  Yamato 
(old  Japanese).  English  occupies  the  most  promi- 
nent part  in  the  curriculum,  and  as  six  hours  a 
week  are  devoted  to  it  during  the  entire  course 
of  five  years,  by  the  time  boys  finish  the  middle 
schools  they  have  a fair  reading  knowledge  of  it, 
for  they  will  have  read  as  text-books  such  works 
as  Gray’s  Elegy,  Dickens’s  Tale  of  Two  Cities  and 
Christmas  Carol,  Irving’s  Sketch  Book,  Smiles’s 
Character,  Franklin’s  Autobiography.  Their  Eng- 
lish is  for  reading  and  not  for  colloquial  purposes. 
Thus,  almost  any  one  of  any  education  can  un- 
derstand some  English,  even  if  he  cannot  follow  a 
conversation  and  much  less  take  part  in  it.  In 
commercial  schools,  more  “practical”  English  is 
taught. 

It  is  through  the  channels  of  the  English  lan- 
guage that  Anglo-Saxon  ideas  exert  a tremendous 
influence  intellectually,  morally,  politically,  and 


Edvication  and  Educational  Problems  187 

socially.  In  this  way  are  the  great  leaders  of 
English  thought  made  familiar  to  us,  and  being 
constantly  quoted  they  are  perused  both  in  the 
original  and  in  translations.  Several  works  of 
Shakespeare  can  now  be  read  in  Japanese;  Bacon, 
Emerson,  George  Eliot,  Poe,  Stevenson,  Long- 
fellow, Wordsworth,  Tennyson,  are  names  on  the 
lips  of  every  one. 

English  does  not  occupy  the  same  prominence 
in  girls’  high  schools,  except  in  such  institutions  as 
are  under  the  auspices  of  Christian  mission's.  A 
feature  of  girls’  schools  that  may  attract  curious 
attention  from  outsiders  as  being  unique,  if  not 
odd,  is  the  course  in  etiquette,  including  ceremo- 
nial tea  and  flower  arrangement.  I have  no  time 
to  go  into  their  elaborate  proceedings,  and  to 
an  American  a mere  description  of  them  would 
be  tedious  enough;  but  so  much  importance  is 
attached  to  them  in  our  pedagogical  scheme  that 
they  are  invariably  taught.  For  this  purpose 
every  girls’  school  has  a special  building  in  Japan- 
ese style,  with  a room  which  may  be  called  “a 
laboratory  of  manners.”  In  all  modem  schools, 
children  sit  on  benches ; but  at  home  they  have  to 
sit  down  d la  japotiaise  with  their  limbs  bent  under 
them — hence  the  necessity  of  a special  etiquette 
room.  To  avoid  possible  misunderstanding  allow 
me  a moment’s  digression. 

The  concocting  and  drinking  of  tea — tea-ism, 
shall  I call  it? — has  long  been  elevated  to  the 
dignity  of  a fine  art,  an  art  of  social  intercourse. 


i88 


TKe  Japanese  Nation 


Its  votaries  even  go  so  far  as  to  regard  it  with 
almost  religious  devotion.  It  has  created  canons  of 
propriety  and  beauty.  We  speak  of  one  who  lacks 
refinement  and  taste  as  one  who  has  “no  tea”  in 
him — “ a-tea-istic.  ” We  speak  of  a rash,  irra- 
tional action  as  mu-cha,  “un-tea-ful”  or  “tea- 
less, ” and,  conversely,  of  a quiet,  sedate,  im worldly 
man  as  cha-jin,  “tea-ist.  ” A future  philologist 
may  write  a dissertation  on  the  etymology  of  taste 
and  tea-ist,  or  of  Theism  and  Tea-ism!  One  of 
our  best  writers,  in  dramatising  Les  Miserahles, 
japanised  aU  its  characters,  and  in  doing  so,  the 
nearest  approach  of  which  he  could  conceive  to 
Bishop  Myriel  was  a tea-ist.  Strange  that  tea 
should  purify  taste,  that  the  austere  simplicity — 
verging  on  asceticism — of  ceremonial  tea-drinking 
should  dictate  rules  of  aesthetic  conduct!  and  yet 
that  this  is  the  case  will  account  for  the  general 
quiet  and  Quaker-like  sobriety  of  our  taste,  the 
absence  of  bright  colours  in  our  costume,  and  the 
severe  plainness  of  our  parlours. 

In  finishing  my  comments  on  the  secondary 
school,  I have  lingered  long  enough  over  the  tea- 
cups; for  yormg  boys  have  no  fancy  for  it,  and 
even  after  matriculating  in  institutions  of  higher 
learning,  they  remain  im-tea-ful.  As  a matter  of 
fact,  graduates  of  secondary  schools  cannot  afford 
money  or  time  for  cha-no-yu.  Life  is  too  stren- 
uous for  them.  They  cannot  get  out  of  the 
world;  they  must  prepare  themselves  to  plunge 
into  it.  A large  number  find  it  impossible  to  con- 


Education  and  Educational  Problems  189 

tinue  their  education  further.  For  those  who  can, 
there  is  a Rubicon  to  cross ; for  the  great  question 
must  be  decided, — “Shall  I seek  the  highest  that 
Japan  can  offer  (namely,  the  university),  or, 
shall  I choose  the  next  best  (namely,  technical 
schools  or  private  institutions  for  medical  or  legal 
study).?  He  who  decides  upon  the  latter  course 
has  comparatively  little  difficulty  in  continuing 
his  studies,  but  he  who  aspires  to  a university 
education  must  first  enter  the  so-called  Koto- 
Gakko,  Higher  Schools  or  National  Colleges,  whose 
standing  is  about  the  same  as  that  of  a good 
American  imdergraduate  collegiate  course  or  of 
the  German  Gymnasium. 

According  to  the  law  on  education,  a certificate 
testifying  to  the  completion  of  the  middle-school 
course  entitles  its  holder  to  enter  these  colleges 
without  examination.  But  as  there  are  only  eight 
of  them  in  the  country,  they  cannot  take  in  all 
who  apply  for  admission.  Hence  a rigorous  en- 
trance examination  is  required.  The  college  in 
Tok>'o  is  the  oldest  and  largest,  and  has  had  a 
history  that  makes  every  youth  ambitious  to  enter 
it.  It  has  over  one  thousand  students,  and  every 
year  can  admit  about  three  hundred  freshmen, 
but  the  applicants  always  exceed  this  number  by 
about  seven  or  eight  times.  It  is  a very  touching 
sight  to  watch  some  two  thousand  boys,  the  pick 
of  our  youth  from  all  parts  of  the  Empire,  flocking 
to  the  college  for  examination — to  watch  them  at 
their  heavy  task,  all  the  time  knowing  that  seven 


IQO  XKe  Japanese  Nation 

out  of  every  eight  will  be  disappointed.  Those 
who  fail  one  year  can  try  again ; a great  many  do 
try  three  or  four  times,  and  in  exceptional  cases 
seven  or  eight  times,  one  instance  of  perseverance 
being  on  record,  where  success  crowned  the  four- 
teenth attempt! 

I beheve  there  is  nothing  that  chills  the  genial 
current  of  the  youthful  soul  more  than  the  inade- 
quate number  of  coUegiate  institutions  in  our 
country.  Thousands  of  yoimg  men  in  the  most 
ardent  and 'aspiring  period  of  life,  feel  the  very 
door  of  hope  slammed  in  their  face!  Their  sole 
consolation  lies  in  the  healing  power  of  youth 
itself.  Inability  to  accommodate  all  who  are 
desirous  to  pursue  higher  studies,  is  not  by  any 
means  confined  to  the  Koto-Gakko.  Each  year 
sees  Government  institutions — Commercial  Col- 
lege, Naval  Academy,  School  for  Foreign  Lan- 
guages, School  of  Navigation,  Academy  of  Fine 
Arts,  Conservatory  of  Music,  Institute  of  Tech- 
nology, etc., — overcrow’^ded  with  applicants  for 
admission.  It  hurts  me  to  confess  how  sadly  our 
Government  fads  to  meet  the  educational  demands 
of  yoimg  Japan. 

The  average  age  of  those  who  come  to  the  Koto- 
Gakko  is  between  eighteen  and  nineteen.  They 
stay  three  years,  during  which  their  time  is  mostly 
taken  up  with  foreign  languages — Enghsh  and 
German — a few  of  them,  how'ever,  taking  French. 
Here  again  no  dead  languages  are  taught  except 
to  those  who  expect  to  take  up  medicine  or  law — 


Education  and  Educational  Problems  191 

the  amount  required  being  homoeopathic  in  quan- 
tity, just  about  enough  to  read  prescriptions  or  to 
understand  technical  terms  in  Pandects.  Fortu- 
nately for  those  who  finish  their  studies  in  the 
colleges,  the  imiversities  admit  them  without  ex- 
amination, except  such  faculties  in  the  University 
of  Tokyo  as  have  more  candidates  than  can  be 
accommodated . 

There  are  four  Imperial  universities,  of  which 
the  one  in  Tokyo  is  the  oldest  and  most  complete, 
being  possessed  of  six  faculties — Law,  Medicine, 
Literature,  Science,  Engineering,  and  Agriculture. 
The  University  of  Kyoto  has  four  faculties — Law, 
Medicine,  Literature,  Science  and  Engineering, 
the  last  two  being  merged  into  one.  The  other  two 
universities  are  stiU  too  new  to  be  complete.  One 
of  them  is  in  the  south,  at  Fukuoka  in  Kyushu, 
and  has  Medical  and  Engineering  faculties.  The 
other  in  the  north,  has  a well-equipped  Agricul- 
tural faculty  at  Sapporo  in  Hokkaido,  and  a 
Science  department  in  Sendai. 

The  university  course  varies  in  length  from  three 
to  four  years  according  to  the  faculty.  The  lect- 
ures are  given  in  Japanese,  though  a few  foreign 
I^rofessors  (about  a half  dozen  in  number)  lecture 
in  English  or  French  or  German.  The  number  of 
students  in  the  University  of  Tok>"o  is  about  six 
thousand,  that  of  Kyoto  some  two  thousand.  The 
courses  of  study  are  very  much  as  in  other  coun- 
tries, and  we  think  the  standard  is  equally  high. 
Perhaps  we  have  carried  further  than  other  coun- 


192  TKe  Japanese  Nation 

tries  one  branch  of  study — Seismology,  or  Seismog- 
raphy — the  Science  of  Earthquakes,  for  which  we 
have  no  lack  of  raw  material. 

The  academic  atmosphere  is  “ganz  Deutsch” — 
barring  Mensur  und  Kneipe,  and  alas,  minus 
Gemuthlichkeit.  Our  students  are  on  the  whole 
exceedingly  studious  in  their  habits — I dare  say 
too  studious;  and  though  they  might  enjoy  the 
pleasures  of  the  German  students,  they  have  not 
the  English  and  American  zest  for  sports.  Their 
most  popular  exercises  are  fencing  and  jiujutsu, 
neither  of  which,  however,  arouses  such  enthusi- 
asm as  do  the  imported  games  of  baseball  and 
boat-racing.  The  two  private  universities  of  Keio 
and  Waseda  send  their  teams  now  and  then  to  this 
country. 

As  for  fraternities  or  any  other  secret  organisa- 
tions, they  are  quite  unknown  among  our  students. 
There  are  no  purer  democracies  than  our  institu- 
tions of  learning.  Distinction  lies  only  in  brains. 
Family  pride  is  not  tolerated;  any  show  of  w’ealth 
is  despised;  snobbishness  is  scorned.  In  a dor- 
mitory, for  instance,  a millionaire’s  son  would 
never  think  of  decorating  his  room.  If  a boy 
should  come  in  a carriage,  he  would  be  looked 
upon  with  contempt.  To  be  a shosei  (student),  is 
to  be  plain  in  habit  and  in  taste.  To  be  poor  or 
to  be  careless  of  social  conventionality  is  described 
by  the  word  shosei-like.  Dandyism  is  a heinous 
offence  in  the  society  of  learning.  This  identifica- 
tion of  simple  habits  with  study,  of  plain  living 


Education  and  Educational  Problems  193 

with  high  thinking,  has  come  down  as  a tradition, 
and  still  exercises  a wholesome  effect  upon  the 
yoimg.  It  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  mention 
here  a practice  generally  in  vogue  among  the 
nobility  and  the  wealthy  class.  To  protect  their 
children  from  the  enervating  influence  of  wealth 
and  rank,  to  shield  them  from  being  spoiled  by 
their  caressing  grandmothers,  or  by  a train  of 
flattering  servants,  a small,  unpretentious  estab- 
lishment is  provided  for  boys  to  live  in  with  their 
tutor  and  a small  company  of  select  young  men 
— perhaps  class-mates  of  the  boys  and  some  older 
and  more  advanced  students.  Here  they  all 
share  the  same  simple  diet,  such  as  they  might 
get  in  ordinary  boarding-houses  or  dormitories. 
The  boys  are  allowed  to  visit  their  parents  once  or 
twice  a week.  This  Lacedaemonian  treatment,  if 
it  is  hard  on  the  boys  as  well  as  on  the  parents, 
especially  on  the  mothers,  has  proved  quite  effica- 
cious. I have  myself  witnessed  admirable  results 
accruing  from  it.  Moreover,  friendship — which  is 
often  a notably  strong  bond  between  our  youths — 
formed  under  these  conditions,  is  deep  and  lasting  as 
love.  I have  spoken  of  our  training  as  masculine. 

An  extension  of  the  same  system  is  also  not  at 
all  uncommon.  Men,  usually  teachers  in  active 
service  or  in  retirement,  offer  to  take  a limited 
number — varying  from  half-a-dozen  to  fifty  odd 
boys — under  their  own  roofs,  conversing  with 
them  at  meal-time  or  spending  some  hours  with 
them  daily.  In  jiiiku,  as  such  a system  is  called. 


13 


194  The  Japanese  Nation 

boys  pay  their  own  board  and  possibly  a small 
sum  for  rent,  but  the  fimdamental  idea  is  to  live 
under  the  guidance  of  superior  men. 

It  is  a still  more  common  custom  for  a man  who 
can  afford  to  do  so  (had  I time  I could  give  most 
touching  examples  of  men  of  small  means,  such  as 
school  teachers  and  officials  with  a monthly  salary 
no  larger  than  thirty  or  forty  yen)  to  offer  a home 
to  well-deserving  students  and  take  them  in  as 
members  of  his  family.  Such  students  are  called 
shokkaku,  “table-guests.”  A man  of  more  or  less 
prominence  usually  has  several  such  in  his  house. 
I number  among  my  own  friends  some  who  have 
no  other  hobby  than  that  of  helping  poor  students. 
No  charge  is  made  for  their  food  and  room;  but 
they  usually  requite  the  kindness  done  them  by 
little  services,  clerical  or  domestic,  or,  when  there 
are  children  in  the  family,  tutorial.  Far  from 
l^eing  parasitic,  such  an  arrangement  corresponds 
to  what  the  biologists  speak  of  as  symbiotic. 
“House  Communism”  of  this  kind  is  but  seldom 
detrimental  to  the  family  life  of  the  patron  or  to 
the  character  of  the  clientele.  Amojig  those  who 
now  fill  prominent  positions  in  business  circles  or 
in  public  service,  are  many  who  spent  their  student 
days  as  shokkaku. 

The  expenses  of  university  education  amount 
to  about  four  htmdred  yen  for  the  whole  year, 
inclusive  of  board,  room,  and  books.  This  is  a 
very  respectable  sum  in  Japan,  where  the  cost  of 
living  is  low,  and  it  is  an  oft-mooted  question 


Education  and  Educational  Problems  195 

whether  it  pays  to  give  a boy  a university  educa- 
tion, seeing  that  graduates  usually  begin  their 
career  at  forty  yen  a month,  and  many  of  them 
obtain  positions  with  difficulty.  Still  a university 
diploma  goes  a long  way  in  the  struggle  for  life, 
so  much  so  that  it  is  the  ambition  of  all  parents 
to  see  their  sons  in  possession  of  it.  I could  tell 
you  stories  from  actual  life  of  the  brave  sacrifices 
made  by  mothers  for  the  sake  of  their  sons’  edu- 
cation, or  tales  of  abject  despair  on  the  part  of 
young  men  who  failed  to  enter  college.  Yet  as 
far  as  privileges  are  concerned  a diploma  avails 
but  little.  If  a graduate  desire  a Government 
position,  he  must  pass  a severe  civil-service  exami- 
nation. It  is  pitiful  to  see  a promising  boy  beset 
all  along  his  path  by  examinations.  Just  think 
of  some  exceptionally  good  schools  taking  children 
of  twelve  by  “exam”  into  the  higher  grade  of 
primary  education,  or  of  some  middle  schools,  par- 
ticularly well  known,  requiring  entrance  “exams” 
of  boys  from  fourteen  to  fifteen  years  of  age. 
When  entering  college  at  eighteen  or  nineteen,  the 
candidates  have  that  awful  examination  of  which 
I have  spoken.  If  the  course  they  wish  to 
pursue  in  the  university  is  crowded,  they  must 
take  another  examination.  They  leave  the  univer- 
sity at  tw'enty-five  or  twenty-six,  and  after  this 
they  try  the  State  examination  for  civil  service. 
When  I see  the  heart-rending  as  well  as  head- 
racking  struggle,  I am  reminded  of  the  dwarfing 
features  of  French  life  that  hlonsieur  Desmoulins 


196  XHe  Japanese  Nation 

gives  in  his  Anglo-Saxon  Superiority.  Yet,  until 
we  can  devise  some  better  system,  we  shall  go  on 
with  the  present ; for  certainly  there  are  many  ad- 
vantages in  it.  Here  again  permit  me  to  make  a 
digression.  By  this  series  of  “exams”  the  weaker 
minds  are  pretty  thoroughly  sifted  out,  and  we 
can  get  the  best  in  public  service.  Such  yoimg 
men,  when  they  get  their  first  appointment  as 
clerks,  receive,  as  I have  said,  about  forty  yen  a 
month.  If,  instead  of  going  into  Government 
service,  they  should  accept  a place  in  a private 
corporation  or  firm,  they  can  ordinarily  command 
twice  or  three  times  as  large  a salary;  but  so 
honoured  and  so  stable  are  Government  positions 
that  they  would  by  far  prefer  them  to  more  lucra- 
tive employment.  This  explains  why  paternalism 
and  bureaucracy,  carried  as  they  are  to  a degree 
unbelievable  in  other  countries,  have  not  proved 
so  onerous.  It  explains,  too,  why  “socialism,” 
so  abhorred  by  officialdom,  is  really  carried  out  in 
great  measure  by  the  State  itself.  I say  this  with 
no  desire  to  defend  bureaucracy.  On  the  con- 
trary, its  defects — particularly  its  red-tape — are 
intolerable;  but  the  remedies  for  them  are  most 
likely  to  come  from  the  official  classes  themselves. 
But  I am  afraid  that  our  educational  plan  and 
the  system  of  competitive  examination  for  every 
advancement  have  very  cramping  effect  upon 
intellect  and  character.  The  value  of  education 
comes  to  be  measured  by  the  facility  it  gives  to 
the  attainment  of  success  in  examinations.  People 


Education  and  Educational  Problems  197 

study  not  for  the  sake  of  knowledge,  but  to 
“answer  examination  questions.”  The  men  who 
can  write  the  best  examination  papers  are  heroes 
among  students.  There  is  little  encouragement 
to  enjoy  knowledge  for  its  own  sake;  for  every 
effort  is  exerted  to  cram.  The  opinions  of  mem- 
bers of  the  examining  bodies  are  repeated,  even 
when  they  may  not  be  accepted.  There  is  de- 
veloping what  might  be  termed  a science  of 
examinations;  and  as  to  an  art  of  passing  them 
— this  has  already  advanced  far.  Under  these 
circumstances  it  would  have  been  a dire  national 
calamity  if  corruption  had  crept  into  the  exam- 
ination system;  but  fortunately  we  are  exempt 
from  it — for  the  same  reason  that  civil  service 
takes  the  pick  of  our  young  men.  It  remains  true, 
nevertheless,  that  cramrning  of  mind  means  cramp- 
ing of  character. 

My  laudation  of  the  personnel  of  our  civil  service 
implies  the  converse— that  the  worst  do  not  come 
into  civil  service ; but  it  does  not  imply  the  obverse 
— that  the  best  men  never  enter  other  than  official 
careers.  Some  of  our  best  minds  have  adopted  for 
their  life  career  engineering,  mercantile  business, 
legal  professions,  and  journalism.  As  for  acad- 
emic vocations,  they  are  included  in  official  callings, 
as  all  the  principal  institutions  of  the  country 
are  under  governmental  control.  I ought  to  add, 
however,  that  there  are  in  the  country  some  im- 
portant private  institutions  of  higher  learning. 
Among  the  most  famous  are  the  Keio  University, 


igS  XKe  Japanese  Nation 

founded  as  early  as  the  year  1867  by  Fukuzawa, 
one  of  the  wise  makers  of  new  Japan;  the  Do- 
shisha,  organised  by  the  illustrious  Christian, 
Joseph  Neeshima;  the  Waseda,  established  and 
still  patronised  by  the  well-known  statesman, 
Count  Okuma.  Besides  these,  we  have  several 
private  law  schools  which  bear  the  name  of  uni- 
versity. One  of  the  chief  reasons  why  institu- 
tions of  this  grade  are  so  eagerly  sought,  lies  in 
the  privilege  accorded  (provided  they  conform 
to  the  regulations  relating  to  accommodations, 
teaching  staff,  etc.)  to  their  matriculated  students 
of  postponing  military  service  while  pursuing  their 
studies. 

From  what  has  been  said  above,  it  may  be  seen 
that  with  us  higher  studies  are  pursued  primarily 
for  utilitarian  purposes — to  get  positions,  to  earn 
bread.  They  are  Brodwissenschaften.  And  it  is 
this  fact  that  strikes  me  as  the  lamentable  feature 
of  our  present  education.  Culture,  in  a broad  and 
lofty  sense,  is  entirely  neglected.  In  the  univer- 
sities and  in  higher  or  technical  schools,  there  is  but 
little  moral  influence  exerted  in  any  form.  Per- 
sonal intercourse  between  professors  and  students 
is  as  good  as  nil.  During  the  collegiate  period, 
students  are  most  interested  in  moral  problems; 
but  ethics  is  chiefly  studied  as  science — as  some- 
thing to  discuss  and  to  dissect  rather  than  to 
believe  and  to  be  lived  up  to.  In  the  secondary" 
schools  moral  discipline  is  very  much  more  strin- 
gent. Here,  as  in  all  other  institutions  main- 


Education,  and  Educational  Problems  199 

tained  by  public  ftmds,  religious  teaching  is  care- 
fully excluded.  It  is  given  only  in  schools  sup- 
ported by  rehgious  denominations,  Buddhist  or 
Christian. 

The  absence  of  moral  factors  in  our  educational 
system  is  a matter  of  serious  concern.  In  our 
haste  to  construct  the  nation  on  a new  basis,  the 
poHtical  and  material  institutions  of  the  West  were 
largely  adopted,  because  we  beheved,  rightly  or 
wrongly,  that  it  was  in  these  that  the  West  excel 
us.  But  in  course  of  time,  it  became  evident  that 
without  emphasising  the  moral  side  of  life,  material 
progress  was  fraught  with  more  danger  than  is 
adherence  to  old  traditions.  Should  we,  then,  re- 
trace our  steps?  Should  we  withdraw  into  the 
old  sheU?  Some  reactionary  people  began  to  raise 
their  voices  against  occidentalisation.  They  ap- 
pealed to  so-caUed  patriotism — the  cheap  resort 
of  the  blusterer! — invoking  the  passions  of  the 
semi-educated  in  exhorting  them  to  be  true  to  the 
traditions  of  their  fathers,  calling  advanced  think- 
ers traitors  to  the  highest  heritage  of  the  nation. 
This  reaction,  though  wholesome  in  a small  way, 
set  back  our  progress  by  several  years.  In  the 
meantime,  young  Japan  was  bewildered  in  its 
judgment  as  to  moral  issues.  The  old  system 
of  things  which  was  as  good  as  dead,  reactionary 
chauvinism  could  not  resurrect  with  aU  its  yellow 
shrieks.  The  new  construction  period  has  not 
yet  come.  In  the  meantime  shall  or  can  the 
nation  suspend  its  moral  judgment? 


200 


XKe  Japanese  Nation 


We  are  exceedingly  fortunate  in  having  for  our 
ruler  a man  of  unusual  insight  and  power,  who 
incorporates  in  his  person  the  best  intent  of  his 
subjects.  Himself  true  to  the  noblest  teachings  of 
his  race,  doing  his  daily  round  of  tasks  under 
the  dictates  of  a rigid  discipline,  our  Emperor  is 
in  a position -to  give  out  a code  of  morals  which 
fills  a great  educational  need.  In  1890,  was  issued 
what  is  known  as  the  Imperial  Rescript  on  Educa- 
tion. It  is  perhaps  the  only  document  that  has 
been  made  public  without  the  signature  of  his 
ministers,  and  a glance  at  the  instrument  will  show 
that  no  cabinet  minister  could  take  upon  himself 
the  responsibility  of  enforcing  the  precepts  stated 
therein.  For  instance,  what  minister  could  claim 
the  power  to  make  husband  and  w'ife  live  in  har- 
mony! Here  is  a translation  officially  made,  and 
I confess  that  no  English  rendering  will  do  jus- 
tice to  the  dignity  of  the  original.  However,  the 
general  trend  of  the  thought,  if  not  the  exact 
meaning  of  every  clause,  may  be  clear  enough. 

THE  IMPERIAL  RESCRIPT  ON  EDUCATION 

Know  Ye,  Our  Subjects: 

Our  Imperial  Ancestors  have  founded  Our  Empire 
on  a basis  broad  and  everlasting,  and  have  deeply  and 
firmly  implanted  virtue.  Our  subjects,  ever  united 
in  loyalty  and  filial  piety,  have  from  generation  to 
generation  illustrated  the  beauty  thereof.  This  is  the 
glory  and  the  fundamental  character  of  Our  Empire 
and  herein  also  lies  the  source  of  Our  education.  Ye, 


Education  and  Educational  Problems  201 

Our  subjects,  be  filial  to  your  parents,  affectionate  to 
your  brothers  and  sisters;  as  husbands  and  wives  be 
harmonious,  as  friends  true;  bear  yourselves  in  mod- 
esty and  moderation ; extend  your  benevolence  to  all ; 
pursue  learning  and  cultivate  the  arts,  and  thereby  de- 
velop intellectual  faculties  and  perfect  moral  powers ; 
furthermore,  advance  public  good  and  promote  com- 
mon interests;  always  respect  the  Constitution  and 
observe  the  laws;  should  emergency  arise,  offer  your- 
selves courageously  to  the  State ; and  thus  guard  and 
maintain  the  prosperity  of  Our  Imperial  Throne, 
coeval  with  heaven  and  earth.  So  shall  ye  not  only 
be  Our  good  and  faithful  subjects,  but  render  illus- 
trious the  best  traditions  of  your  Forefathers. 

The  way  here  set  forth  is  indeed  the  teaching 
bequeathed  by  Our  Imperial  Ancestors  to  be  observed 
alike  by  Their  Descendants  and  the  subjects,  infallible 
for  all  ages  and  true  in  all  places.  It  is  Our  wish  to 
take  it  to  heart  in  all  reverence,  in  common  with  you, 
Our  subjects,  that  we  may  all  thus  attain  to  the  same 
virtue. 

The  30th  day  of  the  loth  month  of  the  23rd  year  of 
Meiji 

{Imperial  Sign  Manual,  Imperial  Seal.) 

This  document  forms  at  present  the  basis  of 
all  moral  teaching  in  schools.  A printed  copy 
with  the  Emperor’s  autograph,  is  kept  as  the 
sacred  treasure  of  every  educational  institution. 
It  is  read  with  much  ceremony  on  aU  state  occa- 
sions. Text-books  on  ethics  are  usually  com- 
mentaries on  or  expansions  of  it.  You  can  see 
for  yourselves  what  a comprehensive  epitome  of 


202 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


moral  duties  it  presents.  Its  very  comprehensive- 
ness allows  ample  room  for  liberal  interpretation. 
As  explained  and  taught  in  schools,  I have  often 
wondered  how  nearly  its  usual  exposition  ap- 
proaches the  original  idea  of  the  Emperor  himself. 
There  is  certainly  a demand  for  a more  universal 
— and  not  exclusively  national — exegesis  of  the 
Rescript. 

We  must  learn  the  fuller  meaning  of  all  the 
duties  we  have  been  wont  to  look  upon  as  of  solely 
worldly  concern.  Our  loyalty  must  not  end  with 
our  relations  to  our  masters ; our  truthfulness  must 
not  be  limited  to  our  dealings  with  our  neighbours ; 
our  benevolence  must  have  no  geographical  limits. 
We  are  not  merely  subjects,  but  citizens,  not  only 
citizens  of  Japan  but  of  the  world-community. 
These  are  trite  sayings ; but  a strange  superstition 
has  for  some  years  been  current  in  our  country’, 
that  we  are  a “peculiar”  people,  that  our  history 
is  different  from — by  which  of  course  is  meant 
better  than — that  of  other  peoples,  and  that  our 
ethical  ideas  are  unique  and  superior.  In  these 
strains  have  the  chauvinists  been  preaching  the 
moral  apartness  of  our  people,  and  in  this  strange 
wise  has  the  spectre  of  old  insular  isolation  cropped 
out  again.  But  ghosts  vanish  with  the  coming  of 
the  morning! 

As  at  the  dawn  of  our  pedagogic  history’,  we 
sat  at  the  feet  of  Hindu  and  Chinese  sages,  and 
as  in  course  of  time  we  imbibed  their  precepts  and 
made  of  them  the  very  fibre  of  our  being ; as  at  the 


Education  and  Educational  Problems  203 

commencement  of  the  present  regime,  we  placed 
ourselves  under  the  tutelage  of  European  and 
American  teachers,  and  then  gradually  assimilated 
their  thought, — so,  in  the  future,  when  the  period 
of  fruition  shall  have  come,  we  should  show  forth 
what  may  rightly  be  expected  of  the  intellect- 
ual welding  of  two  hemispheres,  of  the  spiritual 
wedding  of  the  East  and  the  West. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS 

SO  often  has  the  saying,  “Man  doth  not  live  by 
bread  alone,”  been  repeated,  that  it  has  been 
assigned  a place  among  platitudes.  Nevertheless 
the  trend  of  our  age  is  toward  an  imdue  emphasis 
of  our  physical  wants.  As  a result,  civilisation  is 
measured  largely  by  its  success  in  fulfilling  them; 
hence  bread-winning  has  grown  from  a material 
necessity  to  a social,  iron  law. 

Its  rigour  is,  however,  relentless  only  in  the 
field  of  daily  need,  relaxing  as  the  requirements  of 
our  living  ascend  in  scale  from  articles  of  necessity 
to  those  of  decency,  and  from  these  again  to  the 
demands  of  comfort;  and  when  they  reach  the 
domain  of  luxury,  the  so-called  bread-winning 
ceases  to  be  a law  of  life,  but  becomes  in  very 
truth  a cause  of  death. 

Oriental  teachers  have  always  looked  upon ' 
material  well-being  as  a matter  of  subsidiary  con- 
cern. They  have  taught  more  of  life  than  of 
living.  Mr  Wrench  in  his  recent  work.  The 
Mastery  of  Life,  has  called  the  attention  of  the 


204. 


Economic  Conditions 


205 


West  to  the  fact  that  it  is  too  much  absorbed  in 
the  means  of  life,  while  the  East  tastes  life  itself. 
You  speak  of  “Oriental  luxury”;  but  is  there  not 
more  of  an  Oriental  flavour  in  that  part  of  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  where  the  Master  teaches; 
“Therefore  I say  unto  you,  Be  not  anxious  for 
your  life,  what  ye  shall  eat,  or  what  ye  shall  drink ; 
nor  yet  for  your  body,  what  ye  shall  put  on.  Is 
not  the  life  more  than  food,  and  the  body  than 
raiment?”  The  pagan  Orientals  live  more  the 
life  of  “the  birds  of  the  heaven,  which  sow  not, 
neither  reap  nor  gather  into  bams,  ” or  the  life  of 
the  “lilies  of  the  field,”  which,  without  toiling 
or  spinning,  grow  and  array  themselves  in  the 
glory  that  Solomon  could  not  surpass.  Wealth, 
as  such,  has  been  discarded  from  all  high  thinking 
and  high  teaching.  Privation  was  even  courted 
among  religious  and  literary  men  as  a condition 
under  w'hich  one  can  best  work  out  one’s  salva- 
tion. Men  in  public  life  w^ere  expected  not  to 
look  to  filthy  lucre  for  the  reward  of  their  service. 
An  ancient  saying  mns,  “When  civil  servants 
begin  to  covet  riches  and  w'hen  military  men  begin 
to  love  life,  then  is  the  beginning  of  an  end.” 
Superiour  men  looked  upon  wealth  as  illth. 

Poverty  was  not  considered  a disgrace.  We 
have  an  inelegant  adage,  Bushi  wa  kuwa-ne-do 
taka-yoji — “As  to  the  samurai,  though  he  eats  not, 
he  proudly  picks  his  teeth,  ” — which  is  equivalent 
to  saying  “How  far  above  creature-comforts  soars 
the  soul  of  the  samurai!”  There  has  thus  been 


2o6 


The  Japanese  Nation 


a general  feeling  that  wealth  is  something  un- 
worthy to  be  chased  after.  Food  and  raiment  and 
shelter,  and  medicine  in  sickness, — and  beyond 
these  the  simplest  demands  of  propriety;  more 
than  this  cometh  of  evil. 

If  human  happiness  is  the  result  obtained  by 
dividing  the  good  things  of  this  life  by  our  desires, 
our  old  masters  taught  us  to  increase  the  quotient 
not  by  increasing  the  numerator,  or  the  supply  of 
things,  but  by  decreasing  the  denominator,  our 
desires.  Infinity  can  be  procured,  as  Carlyle 
taught,  by  reducing  our  covetousness,  o = . 

Economic  activity  was  held  ever  subservient 
to  human  and  humane  purpose.  Japanese  thinkers 
of  former  days  defined  Political  Economy  much 
as  Ruskin  did,  asserting  that  its  main  object  is  the 
production  of  souls  of  good  quality. 

To  teachings  and  feelings  like  these,  is  to  be 
largely  attributed  the  comparatively  backward 
economic  condition  of  Japan.  Much  of  her  dor- 
mant wealth  was  left  undisturbed ; her  virgin  lands 
untilled;  her  mines  unexplored.  I do  not  mean 
that  our  economic  advancement  was  checked 
solely  by  our  ideal  view  of  life.  There  were  other 
reasons  for  our  slow  progress;  but  above  these 
reasons  towers  our  mental  attitude  toward  wealth. 
Make  plain  living  honourable  and  display  will 
take  its  flight  to  lodge  among  the  tawdiyq  there 
will  be  less  of  a scramble  for  bread  and  for  gold. 
Modem  civilisation,  however,  does  not  tolerate 
old-time  simplicity.  Bread!  Bread!! — sour  or 


Economic  Conditions 


207 


sweet — leavened  or  unleavened — bread  has  become 
the  first  and  last  cry  in  this  modem  age. 

Owing  to  the  onslaught  of  materialism  upon 
Japan,  the  samurai  has  put  away  his  sword,  the 
statesman  has  taken  up  the  abacus,  and  the  new 
gospel  of  “a  good  living”  has  come  in  vogue. 
Callings  hitherto  despised  have  suddenly  come  to 
be  honoured.  Merchants  have  become  nobles, 
shopkeepers  have  usurped  such  social  positions  as 
knights  enjoyed  before.  With  this  mental  and 
social  transformation,  the  foremost  energies  of  the 
nation  rush  into  money-making  channels.  With 
a new  value  placed  on  the  power  of  wealth,  both 
among  the  people  and  in  the  esteem  of  one  nation 
towards  another,  the  moral  concept  of  social  pro- 
gress passes  through  a radical  change.  As  wrote 
Shakespeare  in  King  Johti; 

‘‘Well,  whiles  I am  a beggar,  I will  rail. 

And  say — there  is  no  sin,  but  to  be  rich; 

And  being  rich,  my  virtue  then  shall  be. 

To  say — there  is  no  vice  but  begging.” 

The  logic  of  this  sad  cynicism  leads  to  the  uni- 
versal adoption  of  a ‘‘gold  standard”  for  all  con- 
cerns of  life.  As  at  the  devil’s  booth,  all  things 
come  to  be  sold  or  bartered  for  bread.  Poverty, 
despicable  in  our  industrial  age,  as  it  was  in  the 
religion  of  Mammonism,  is  the  gravest  of  sins. 
Gauged  by  the  physical  standard,  Japan  certainly 
stands  low  among  the  nations. 

It  has  been  computed  by  competent  statisticians 


2o8  THe  Japanese  Nation 

that  the  entire  wealth  of  Japan  amounts  to  some 
24,000,000,000  yen,  which  w’ill  give  at  ten  per  cent, 
an  annual  income  of  2,400,000,000  yen.  This  in 
turn  gives  per  capita  a yearly  income  of  about 
forty-six  yen  (the  population  being  52,000,000). 
Out  of  this  sum  is  to  be  paid  8.80  yen  for  taxes  of 
various  kinds,  leaving  to  each  citizen,  irrespective 
of  age  or  sex,  an  annual  revenue  of  37.20  yen  or  a 
monthly  quota  of  3.10.  As  a family  consists  on 
an  average  of  five  persons,  its  income  is  15.50  yen 
per  month.  With  this  meagre  sum,  a household 
manages  not  only  to  sustain  and  to  perpetuate 
itself  but  to  lead  a cheerful  life.  This  absurdly 
low  state  of  economic  development  does  not  pre- 
clude the  existence  of  millionaires,  nor  does  it  by 
any  means  argue  the  prevalence  of  indigence. 
Wealth  is  comparatively  evenly  distributed,  and 
the  proletariat  in  the  slums  of  Tokyo  fare  better 
than  does  the  “residuum”  of  New  York,  London, 
or  Paris.  In  the  most  wretched  hovels  we  rarely 
meet  with  the  herding  together  of  the  sexes  and 
of  families.  The  clothing  of  our  poor  being  cotton, 
it  is  oftener  and  more  easily  washed  than  the 
woollen  garments  of  your  paupers.  Their  food 
consisting  largely  of  vegetables,  putrefying  grease 
does  not  scent  the  air.  The  struggle  for  life  is 
bad  enough,  but  has  not  reached  the  most  acute 
stage,  and  luxury  has  not  yet  made  victims  of  the 
unsophisticated  peasants  who  form  by  far  the 
largest  proportion  of  our  population.  For  though 
the  urban  population  is  increasing  at  a rapid  rate 


Economic  Conditions 


209 


(twenty -five  per  cent,  of  our  population  living  at 
present  in  towns  of  over  ten  thousand  inhabitants) 
the  bulk  of  our  people  are  still  engaged  in  rural 
pursuits,  and  agriculture  is  as  yet  our  principal 
industry. 

Whether  considered  as  a food-producing  occu- 
pation or  as  man-producing — inasmuch  as  no  other 
vocation  is  more  conducive  to  health  and  charac- 
ter,— agriculture  has  always  been  held  in  high 
esteem.  In  former  days,  the  social  classes  were 
ranked,  according  to  their  callings,  as  samurai 
(knights  or  gentlemen),  as  tillers  of  the  soil,  as 
artisans,  and  as  tradesmen.  This  recognition  of 
the  status  of  the  peasantry  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  when  one  remembers  that  Japan  was,  until 
forty  years  ago,  what  Thuenen  calls  an  “Isolated 
State,”  her  whole  economic  life  being  based  on 
the  principle  of  self-sufficiency  and  her  political 
philosophy  being  physiocratic.  Let  me  describe 
our  system  of  husbandry. 

Japan  proper,  which  I single  out  as  best  repre- 
senting our  national  life, — i.  e.,  Japan  exclusive  of 
her  colonial  acquisitions  in  Formosa,  Korea,  and 
Saghalien, — embraces  an  area  of  about  95,ooo,{XX) 
acres,  of  wffiich  the  highest  estimate  rates  some 
fourteen  per  cent.,  or  14,000,000  acres,  as  arable. 
The  rest,  or  about  eighty-six  per  cent.,  lies  waste, 
or,  if  not  strictly  waste,  waste  as  far  as  food-pro- 
ducing is  concerned.  No  civilised  country  in  the 
world  has  so  small  a proportion  of  agricultural 
land.  If  all  these  cultivated  acres  were  put  to- 


14 


210 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


gether  into  one  big  farm,  and  if  you  were  to  ride 
in  an  automobile  at  the  speed  of  fifty  miles  an 
hour,  you  would  be  able  to  skirt  the  entire  centre 
perimeter  in  less  than  twelve  hours. 

Yet  from  this  limited  area  our  peasants  produce 
enough  to  feed  and  clothe  themselves  and  the 
nation,  and  to  furnish  more  than  half  the  silk 
worn  by  American  ladies. 

It  is  evident  that  our  agricultural  method  must 
be  very  intensive,  intensive  in  the  double  sense  of 
the  liberal  use  of  capital  and  labour,  though,  as 
we  shall  see,  the  intensivity  is  largely  that  of 
labour.  Regarding  the  capitalistic  side  of  our 
farming,  it  consists  almost  exclusively  of  the  use  of 
fertilisers  and  of  water  for  irrigation.  Possessed 
of  scarcely  any  capital  in  the  form  of  cash,  the 
farmers  know  how  to  make  the  best  use  of  water 
for  irrigation  and  of  the  last  scrap  of  refuse  for 
fertilisation. 

Poor  as  the  peasants  are,  they  apply  yearly 

85.000. 000  yen  worth  of  fertilisers,  of  which 

20.000. 000  yen  are  expended  for  imported  fertil- 
isers. A great  French  agriculturist,  Monsieur 
Gasparin,  has  remarked  that  agriculture  reaches 
its  highest  development,  which  he  calls  culture 
heterositique,  when  it  is  forced  to  depend  upon 
imported  fertilisers  for  its  successful  operations. 
Our  peasants  have  long  practised  rotation  of  crops 
and  the  renovation  of  soil  by  the  cultivation  of 
leguminous  plants — of  course  empirically,  having 
had  no  scientific  knowledge  of  their  usefulness. 


Economic  Conditions 


2II 


One  of  the  beautiful  sights  which  greets  foreign 
travellers  in  Japan  is  that  of  fields  or  valleys 
covered  with  a little  pinkish-purple  vetch — often 
called  by  them  “Japanese  clover.”  It  has  not 
been  sown  to  please  the  eye,  but  merely  to  be 
ploughed  under  for  manure. 

Though  Dean  Swift’s  fame  did  not  rest  upon 
truth-telling,  I believe  the  reverend  gentleman’s 
words  may  be  taken  literally,  when  he  says  that 
“he  who  makes  two  blades  of  grass  grow  where 
one  grew  before,  is  the  true  benefactor  of  man- 
kind. ” In  this  sense  our  peasant  deserves  the 
highest  niche  in  our  shrine  of  gratitude. 

I have  at  home  a small  brass  image  of  a peasant 
in  his  straw  rain-coat,  holding  in  his  hands  a hat 
made  of  rushes.  It  is  one  of  a number  of  images 
which  a celebrated  prince  of  Mito  had  made  for 
the  members  of  his  household,  and  which  he 
instructed  them  to  place  upon  their  trays  (indi- 
vidual tables)  at  every  meal,  so  that  they  might 
never  forget  the  toil  of  those  who  provided  them 
with  food. 

With  surprising  diligence,  combined  with  intel- 
ligence, our  peasants  make  two  blades  of  grass 
grow  where  one  grew  before.  From  one  field  they 
get  three  and  sometimes  four  successive  crops  in 
a year.  Hence,  like  a dime  which  when  used  ten 
times  is  worth  a dollar,  one  of  our  acres  yields  as 
much  as  three  or  four  acres  in  America. 

Our  population  of  52,000,000  (about  one-half 
that  of  the  United  States)  is  thus  fed  and  clothed 


212 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


by  tlie  labour  of  over  30,000,000  people — nearly 
sixty  per  cent,  of  our  population  being  engaged 
in  agriculture.  As  these  30,000,000  farmers,  in- 
cluding women  and  children  (5,500,000  families), 
cultivate  14,000,000  acres,  it  is  evident  that  two 
farmers  are  occupied  in  tilling  one  acre  of  land, 
or,  what  amounts  to  the  same  thing,  the  pro- 
portion of  arable  land  to  the  agricultural  pop- 
ulation is  no  more  than  one-half  acre  per  head. 

Seventy  per  cent,  of  the  agricultural  class  own 
and  cultivate  farms  of  less  than  two  and  a half 
acres.  Twelve  acres  are  considered  a very  re- 
spectable holding.  By  assiduous  labour  an  owner 
of  such  a lot  can  realise  a goodly  sum — say  three 
or  four  hundred  yen — after  paying  a heavy  land 
tax  of  perhaps  fifty  yen,  the  rate  of  tax  on  agriciil- 
tural  land  being  4.7  per  cent,  on  its  assessed  value, 
which  is  in  turn  calculated  at  ten  times  its  annual 
rental.  In  a land  of  petite  culture,  an  area  of 
twenty-five  acres  entitles  its  owner  to  the  position 
of  a local  magnate. 

You  can  easily  understand  that  when  land  is  so 
minutely  divided,  farming  is  carried  on  much  as 
gardening,  horticulture,  and  truck-farming  are 
here.  People  work  with  their  own  hands  with  hoe 
and  spade.  Mr.  Edwin  Markham  might  well  call 
them  “brother  to  the  ox,”  were  he  to  see  them 
wading  through  mud  in  the  heat  of  the  day  or 
turning  the  sod  in  the  winter  twilight.  Animals 
are  not  altogether  wanting.  From  of  old,  w’e  have 
had  horses,  cattle,  fowls,  dogs,  and  pigs  in  limited 


Economic  Conditions 


213 


numbers.  The  sheep  is  a new  creature  to  us,  and 
flocks  of  them  are  still  quite  rare.  Mutton  chops 
are  therefore  a luxury!  The  horse  is  used  for 
draught,  but  its  flesh  is  seldom  eaten.  Here  I might 
state  that  in  recent  years,  since  our  wars  with 
China  and  Russia,  astoimding  improvement  has 
been  made  in  our  cavalry  moimts,  and  in  horses 
generally,  so  that  it  is  difficult  nowadays  to  find 
a specimen  of  pure  Japanese  breed.  This  dis- 
appearance of  a native  breed  is  still  more  con- 
spicuous in  the  case  of  the  canine  family.  The 
kind  of  dogs  that  I used  to  play  with  in  childhood 
is  entirely  extinct,  except  in  remote  mountain 
districts.  Dog-flesh  was  never  eaten  by  us;  and 
even  pork,  which  is  a favourite  food  among  our 
neighbours,  the  Chinese,  has  not  been  much  rel- 
ished. Chickens,  eggs,  and  fish — most  commonly 
salted  herring,  sole,  sardine,  salmon,  or  cod — 
furnish  the  principal  meat  supply  of  our  diet. 

Now  that  I have  inadvertently  taken  up  the 
subject  of  diet,  I may  proceed  with  the  standard 
of  our  living.  Though  rice  is  considered  the  staff 
of  life  in  Japan,  it  is  not  freely  indulged  in  by  the 
peasants  who  raise  it.  The  proper  ration  of  rice 
per  head  is  calculated  to  be  one-and-a-half  pints 
of  the  uncooked  grain  per  day,  though  hard-w^ork- 
ing  labourers  must  have  over  one  quart.  The 
poorer  people  cannot  afford  to  take  unmixed  rice; 
therefore  they  boil  with  it  cheaper  barley  and 
millet.  In  some  southern  provinces,  sweet  pota- 
toes form  the  chief  i:>art  of  daily  food. 


214 


XHe  Japanese  Nation 


As  rice  requires  for  its  cultivation  land  well 
irrigated,  the  prospective  increase  of  paddy-fields 
in  Japan  is  not  likely  to  be  very  great.  At  the 
present  rate  of  increase  in  population  and  of  culti- 
vation, we  shall  reach  the  margin  of  rice-culture 
in  some  thirty  years.  Hence  it  is  a grave  question 
how'  long  we  as  a people  can  depend  on  the  mono- 
culture of  rice.  Already  the  recent  enormo”s  rise 
in  the  price  of  this  cereal  indicates  the  necessity 
of  a change  in  our  dietary  system. 

Besides  the  grains  named,  a large  quantity  of 
beans — the  so  called  soy-bean — is  used  in  various 
forms.  Fermented  beans  in  the  form  of  soup 
constitute  an  essential  part  of  the  standard  break- 
fast for  rich  and  poor  alike.  Indeed  beans  largely 
supply  the  protein  of  our  food,  and  without  this 
nitrogenous  element  of  their  diet,  our  peasants 
declare  they  cannot  work.  Among  vegetables, 
the  most  important  is  a huge  radish,  which  we 
term  daikon,  and  w’hich  is  often  two  or  three  feet 
long  and  four  inches  in  diameter.  It  is  served 
pickled  in  salt  or  grated  or  boiled,  and  science  has 
recently  proved  it  to  be  rich  in  diastase — another 
example  of  the  empiric  use  of  an  iinknown 
principle,  as  our  people  long  ago  fotmd  that  imless 
they  ate  daikon  pickles  with  their  rice  they  could 
not  consume  the  latter  daily  without  suffering 
from  indigestion.  Carrots,  burdock,  cucumbers, 
melons,  potatoes  (sweet  and  white),  yams,  taro, 
lotus-roots,  cabbage,  squashes,  egg-plants,  and 
mushrooms  are  freely  eaten,  while  many  dainty 


Economic  Conditions 


215 


dishes  unfamiliar  to  you  are  enjoyed, — such  as 
the  yotmg  fronds  of  the  brake,  the  tender  sprouts 
of  the  bamboo  (taken  just  as  they  appear  above 
the  surface  of  the  ground  in  the  spring),  and  the 
bulb  of  the  lily — the  variety  you  know  as  the 
“tiger  lily.  ” Now  that  we  have  seeds  from  Eng- 
land and  America  there  is  indeed  scarcely  a vege- 
table grown  in  these  countries  that  we  have  not 
made  our  own.  I am  thinking  now  of  tomatoes, 
Indian  com,  asparagus,  and  celery,  all  of  which  are 
welcomed  in  Japanese  cuisine. 

Wherever  one  is  within  reach  of  a city  market, 
a good  supply  of  fmit  is  obtainable — and  here  again 
the  importation  of  foreign  varieties  is  evidenced 
by  the  peach,  the  pear,  and  the  apple,  and  by 
strawberries,  gooseberries,  and  grapes,  the  indige- 
nous stocks  being  generally  inferior.  When  we 
add  to  these  our  own  delicious  plums  (not  the 
time)  and  many  kinds  of  native  oranges,  our  biwa, 
or  loquat,  and  the  luscious  persimmon  of  the 
autumn,  you  wiU  see  that  we  do  not  suffer  for  lack 
of  refreshing  fruit. 

The  ordinary  beverage  is  tea — what  Emerson 
calls  the  cordial  of  nations — of  which  there  are 
grades  ranging  in  price  from  five  cents  to  five 
dollars  a pound,  so  that  the  poor  and  the  rich  can 
take  their  choice.  Black  tea  is  of  comparatively 
recent  introduction  and  is  but  little  used  in  Japan- 
ese households.  When  we  simply  speak  of  “tea,  ” 
we  mean  our  green  tea,  and  by  this  is  understood 
a natural  or  pure,  and  not  a coloured,  tea,  as  is 


2i6  TKe  Japanese  Nation 

so  often  mistakenly  thought  in  this  country, — 
the  colour  being  due  to  the  process  of  curing. 

The  intoxicating  drink  of  the  comitry  is  sake, 
brewed  from  rice  and  quite  strong  in  alcoholic 
content  (fifteen  or  sixteen  per  cent.).  Beer  is 
imported  as  well  as  brewed  in  Japan.  The  same 
is  true  of  wine,  though  a smaller  quantity  of  this 
is  consumed.  I may  add  that  dnmkenness  is  not 
as  apparent  with  us  as  it  is  in  America,  and  that 
with  us,  as  with  you,  there  is  a movement  against 
all  social  drinking. 

A labouring  man  can  get  his  food  for  about 
twenty  sen^  a day,  and  he  can  feed  his  family 
(wife  and  a couple  of  children)  on  an  additional 
thirty  sen.  In  fact,  if  he  makes  eighty  sen  and  his 
wife  thirty  sen,  a sum  total  of  a yen  and  ten  sen 
a day,  they  can  keep  a little  house  with  a couple 
of  rooms,  paying  a rent  of  three  yen  per  month, 
read  newspapers  (for  the  humblest  can  read),  take 
daily  baths  (a  racial  necessity),  send  their  child- 
ren to  school  (for  education  is  compulsory),  and 
put  in  the  savings  bank  two  or  three  yen  a month. 
Does  this  sound  delectably  Arcadian? — and  yet  of 
families  like  these  the  duties  of  modem  citizenship 
are  demanded — viz.,  the  payment  of  taxes,  service 

' The  yen  is  the  standard  of  our  monetary  system  and  in 
exchange  is  equal  to  about  fifty  cents  in  American  money;  but  its 
purchasing  value  in  Japan  is  practically  equivalent  to  that  of  the 
dollar.  You  can  readily  see  that  it  becomes  only  half  as  great 
in  the  purchase  of  imported  goods.  As  in  your  currency  one 
hundred  cents  make  a dollar,  so  in  ours  one  hundred  sen  make 
one  yen. 


I 


Economic  Conditions 


217 


in  the  army,  and  attendance  at  school  on  the 
part  of  the  children. 

In  such  a cursory  review  of  Japanese  economy 
as  I am  giving,  there  is  little  space  for  a discussion 
of  our  national  finance.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  our 
taxation  and  debt  have  increased  heavily  since 
our  war  with  Russia.  The  latter  now  amounts 
to  about  2,650,000,000  ye7i,  an  increase  of  2,100,- 
000,000  as  compared  with  the  debt  prior  to  the 
war.  This  increase  is  roughly  the  price  we  have 
paid  or  are  still  paying  for  victory.  WTiereas  the 
per  capita  debt  of  our  people  was  less  than  eleven 
yen  in  1904,  it  is  now  about  forty  yen.  Our  taxes 
were  150,000,000  yen  before  the  war;  now  they  are 

330.000. 000.  The  chief  sources  of  revenue  are 
the  taxes  on  liquors,  land,  and  income.  We  get 
about  50,000,000  yen  from  the  customs.  A very 
important  part  of  our  revenue  is  derived  from 
public  undertakings  and  State  property  (about 

126.000. 000  yew),  and  from  postal,  telegraphic,  and 
telephone  service  (about  50,000,000  yen) ; also  from 
the  profits  of  salt,  camphor,  and  tobacco  monopo- 
lies (about  50,000,000  yew).  The  total  annual 
revenue  of  the  Empire  has  lately  been  approxi- 
mating the  sum  of  560,000,000  yen.  How  can  the 
people  bear  such  taxation?  Are  they  simply 
crushed,  so  that  they  cannot  raise  their  voice? 

Heavy'  burdens  of  taxation  and  military  service, 
without  corresponding  improvement  in  economic 
welfare  and  morals,  may  be  fruitful  of  social  dan- 
ger. We  are  aware  of  this.  Fortunately,  thus 


2i8 


TKe  Japanese  Nation 


far,  our  country  has  been  free  from  proletariat 
revolts  or  labour  trouble  of  any  magnitude.  Social- 
istic propaganda  is  feared,  and  only  last  year  we 
had  the  saddening  sight  of  a band  of  anarchists 
arrested  and  condemned  on  the  charge  of  high 
treason.  They  were  called  socialists,  but  not  in 
the  sense  that  our  Government  itself  may  be 
called  State-socialistic — neither  in  the  sense  in 
which  Professor  Hart  in  his  recent  book.  The 
Obvious  Orient,  says:  “Never  was  there  such  a 
socialistic  community,  such  an  ant-hill  of  human 
beings,  busy,  contented,  and  all  interested  in  each 
other’s  affairs.  Socialism,”  he  adds,  “is  realised 
in  Japan.” 

This  blunder  in  designating  the  worst  class  of 
destructive  anarchists  “socialists,”  has  done  no 
little  harm.  The  very  term  “socialism”  has  been 
dragged  into  ill  repute,  even  when  it  is  used  in 
its  noblest  and  most  scientific  sense,  and  has 
also  given  a false  impression  to  the  outside 
world  regarding  the  justice  of  our  courts  in  im- 
posing what  was  naturally  thought  to  be  excessive 
punishment. 

With  the  increasing  concentration  of  population 
in  cities,  with  the  development  of  the  modem  mill 
system,  labour  questions  will  become  more  and 
more  serious.  Whether  we  can  progress  from  our 
still  prevailing  feudalistic  and  artistic  stage  of 
economy  to  its  modem  form,  without  undergoing 
the  throes  of  democratic  upheavals,  it  is  impossible 
to  say. 


Economic  Conditions 


219 


In  the  meantime  the  population  is  growing 
rapidly.  In  1907  it  was  49,000,000.  At  present 
(1912)  it  is  about  52,000,000.  Fifty  years  hence 
it  should  reach  the  dignity  of  nine  ciphers.  Can 
the  land  support  so  many?  Certainly  more  inten- 
sive agriculture  will  yield  more  food.  With  the 
rise  of  prices,  the  margin  of  cultivation  will 
extend  to  land  as  yet  entirely  neglected.  A rough 
estimate  points  to  the  possibility  of  doubling  our 
present  arable  area.  Another  source  of  relief  will 
come  from  emigration  into  our  new  dominions — 
Formosa,  Saghalien,  and  Korea,  and  the  leased 
territory  of  Manchuria.  The  success  we  have 
realised  in  the  administration  of  Formosa  wall  be 
recoimted  elsewhere.  I wall  simply  say  that  in 
eight  years,  under  the  guidance  of  the  late  Viscount 
Kodama  as  Governor-General  and  his  colleague 
Baron  Goto  as  Civil  Governor,  that  island  was 
brought  from  a state  of  wide-spread  disturbance 
created  by  the  bandits  and  of  economic  inefficiency, 
to  a condition  of  stable  government  and  self- 
supporting  finance.  Korea,  despite  some  mistakes 
which  every  colonial  power  makes  at  first  in  dealing 
with  a subjugated  people,  any  impartial  critic  will 
admit,  is  now  better  governed  than  it  ever  w'as. 
We  are  bent  upon  making  our  rule  there,  economi- 
cally as  well  as  politically,  successful  and  praise- 
worthy. Since  1906  the  Imperial  treasury  has 
spent  nearly  200,000,000  yen  in  the  tranquilisation 
of  that  peninsula,  but  it  will  not  be  long  before 
the  land  will  be  made  self-supporting  financially. 


220 


The  Japanese  Nation 


and  it  will  also  afford  homes  for  our  overflowing 
population.  Both  Korea  and  Formosa  can  raise 
enough  rice  to  feed  the  whole  Japanese  nation. 
They  are  both  possessed  of  mineral  resources — 
coal,  oil,  iron,  gold — which  await  further  develop- 
ment. Still  another  source  of  relief  is  destined  to 
come  from  industries.  We  are  driven  into  manu- 
facturing channels  by  force  of  circumstances.  The 
time-honoured  respect  for  agricrdture  must  give 
way  to  the  adoption  of  twentieth-centiuy  indus- 
tries. In  the  abundance  of  water,  we  are  assured 
a cheap  source  of  power ; in  the  growth  of  popula- 
tion, an  ample  supply  of  labour.  Some  nations 
are  looking  askance  upon  the  industrialisation  of 
Japan — slow  as  it  is  (how  slow!) — and  condemn  it 
as  another  instance  of  “accursed  Japanese  compe- 
tition in  the  East.”  On  the  whole,  however,  the 
present  commercial  treaties  do  not  lay  any  serious 
hindrance  in  the  way  of  our  progress,  and  if  w^e 
cannot  accelerate  its  speed,  we  must  not  blame 
others.  How  smoothly  we  can  effect,  in  a few 
years,  a transition  which  it  has  taken  Europe 
several  decades  to  accomplish,  is  just  now  a very 
grave  social  problem. 

While,  by  means  of  education  in  agriculture,  of 
co-operative  popular  banks,  of  young  men’s  as- 
sociations, of  the  consolidation  of  small,  scattered 
plots  into  larger  farms,  of  the  construction  of 
irrigation  canals  and  roads,  we  are  solving,  in 
part,  the  vexed  problems  of  country-life,  at  the 
same  time  by  old-age  pensions,  compensation  for 


Economic  Conditions 


221 


% 


injuries  in  factories,  universal  insurance,  and  labour 
laws,  we  will  try  to  mitigate  the  suffering  of  the 
transition. 

It  is  too  early  to  predict  with  any  approach  to 
accuracy  how  far  our  new  legislation  and  our 
effort  to  maintain  the  old  moral  relations  between 
employer  and  the  employe,  between  landlord  and 
tenant,  will  avert  the  evil  that  has  worked  havoc 
in  other  lands.  I am  afraid,  however,  that  our 
endeavour  will  not  accomplish  much,  unless  w’e 
take  the  question  more  seriously,  and  the  reason 
why  it  is  not  more  seriously  discussed  is  because 
modem  industry  is  still  a new  thing  with  us, 
whereas  the  older  industries  are  largely  of  the 
nature  of  art-crafts,  and  labour  as  such  plays  but 
a subordinate  part. 

A bare  enumeration  of  our  well-known  indus- 
tries— such  as  pottery,  cloisonne,  embroidery, 
lacquer,  ivory  and  wood-carving,  inlaying  and 
hammer-work — will  be  sufficient  to  show  you 
that  they  are  handwork  executed  by  individuals. 

The  arts  and  crafts  are  pursued  not  by  mere 
artisans  but  by  artists,  and  usually  on  a small  scale, 
i.  e.,  under  the  direct  control  of  the  masters.  You 
have  heard  of  the  porcelain-maker,  Seifu.  His 
workshop  is  his  private  house,  where  he  and  his 
family  live  and  share  with  his  half-dozen  pupils 
food  and  lodging.  You  look  in  vain  for  large 
kilns;  but  see  only  two  or  three  small  ones  under 
which  the  master  himself  may  be  building  the  fire. 
His  products  are  not  turned  out  en  masse.  Every 


222 


XHe  Japanese  Nation 


imperfect  article  is  discarded,  and  those  that  pass 
inspection  bear  his  name  and  the  impress  of  his 
personality.  The  same  is  true  of  the  productions 
of  other  master  workmen.  Labour — especially 
mechanical  labour  and  drudgery — forms  only  a 
small  fraction  of  their  exertion,  and  even  in  the 
execution  of  inferior  artisans,  labour  is  not  de- 
graded into  a mechanical  process.  It  is  for  this 
artistic  element  of  our  manual  work  that  Japanese 
manufacture  is  most  admired  by  the  West,  and  I 
assure  you  it  will  not  be  lost ; but  will  be  kept  up  as 
a sacred  inheritance  of  the  race,  in  spite  of  com- 
mercial production  on  a large  scale.  Yet,  of  the 
rank  and  file  of  our  handicraftsmen,  it  is  not  fair  to 
demand,  in  this  age  of  search  for  gold  and  struggle 
for  bread,  that  they  alone  remain  uncontaminated. 
We  cannot  ask  martyrdom  of  others  for  our  own 
enjoyment. 

As  for  manufacturing  and  other  industrial  enter- 
prises, I am  glad  to  say  these  are  growing  steadily 
and  on  the  whole  sanely.  Near  the  close  of  the 
war  with  Chjna  and  of  that  with  Russia,  there  were 
those  usual  indications  of  industrial  expansion 
which  always  work  disaster  in  the  social  econ- 
omy of  a victorious  nation.  The  Government, 
well  aware  that  this  danger  was  imminent,  took 
every  pains  to  prevent  it  by  cautioning  the  public 
through  the  press,  educating  them  in  the  general 
principles  of  post-bellum  finance  by  pointing  to 
the  experienees  of  other  countries.  Had  it  not 
been  for  this  precaution,  calamity  might  have 


Economic  Conditions 


223 


ensued  in  our  business  circles.  As  it  was,  we  came 
out  better,  perhaps,  than  most  of  those  nations  who 
have  passed  through  a similar  experience.  Natur- 
ally there  was  a sudden  rise  in  industrial  activity 
after  each  war,  amoimting  to  a boom,  in  1907,  but 
followed  by  two-and-a-half  years  of  depression, 
after  which  normal  conditions  again  prevailed. 

The  field  for  financial  investments  during  those 
years  lay,  and  still  largely  lies,  in  banking,  cotton 
mills,  electric  works,  mines,  fisheries,  manufactures, 
and  shipping,  and  also  in  smaller  trades. 

Roughly,  one  may  say  some  400,000,000  yen 
represent  the  annual  capital  invested  in  the  coun- 
try— equivalent  perhaps  to  about  one-eighth  of 
the  amount  invested  by  the  United  States,  a fourth 
or  fifth  of  that  of  Great  Britain,  France,  or  Ger- 
many. Small  as  is  our  gross  investment,  if  we  com- 
pare it  with  the  estimated  wealth  of  the  country — 
24,000,000,000  yen  in  round  numbers — it  forms 
over  one  and  six-tenths  per  cent,  as  against  one 
and  four-tenths  per  cent,  in  the  United  States. 

Of  our  large  industries,  conducted  in  mills,  I 
shall  give  three  features  which  may  strike  you  as 
different  from  yours:  (i)  the  unfortimate  absence 
of  iron,  (2)  lack  of  skilled  labour,  (3)  predomi- 
nance of  female  labour. 

As  an  indication  of  the  insignificance  of  our  iron 
industry',  there  is  only  one  steel  foundry  in  the 
whole  country,  and  that  managed  at  a loss  by  the 
Government.  Of  some  450,000  tons  of  pig-iron 
used  in  the  countiy,  two-thirds  are  imported. 


224  THe  Japanese  Nation 

# 

Regarding  skilled  labour,  factory-work  being 
new  to  the  people,  we  have  not  yet  had  time  to 
train  first-rate  operatives.  Compared  with  the 
output,  experience  in  shipyards,  arsenals,  and  steel 
foundries  shows  that  it  takes  two  or  three  Japanese 
to  do  the  work  of  one  European  in  a European 
factory.  Careful  experiments  in  cotton  mills  have 
shown  that  three  himdred  Japanese  operatives  are 
required  where  two  hundred  English  are  sufficient, 
and  where  one  hundred  Americans  do  the  same 
work.  As  yet,  there  seems  to  be  no  immediate 
fear  of  an  industrial  Yellow  Peril! 

As  respects  female  labour,  its  efficiency  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  Western  countries  is  very  much 
in  our  favour.  Especially  is  this  true  in  the  case 
of  silk-culture,  silk-reeling,  weaving,  tea-picking, 
straw-braiding,  etc.  Among  some  10,500  facto- 
ries employing  not  less  than  ten  operatives  each, 
thirty-eight  per  cent,  of  the  employes  are  males, 
the  remaining  sixty-two  per  cent,  are  w'omen. 
These  operatives  constitute  an  industrial  army  of 
eight  hundred  thousand,  of  which  five  hundred 
thousand  are  of  the  weaker  sex. 

Child  labour  is  disproportionately  large.  In 
some  mills  twenty  per  cent,  of  the  labour  is  done 
by  children  under  fourteen  years  of  age,  but  this 
is  an  extreme  case,  though  the  proportion  of  five 
per  cent,  is  not  unusual.  In  some  kinds  of  work, 
infants  under  ten  years  of  age  are  employed. 
Though  as  many  as  ninety-eight  per  cent,  of  the 
children  of  school  age  (six  to  fourteen  years)  are 


Economic  Conditions 


225 


actually  attending  schools,  a considerable  portion 
of  these  do  so  just  long  enough  to  follow  the 
letter  of  the  compulsory  education  law,  coming  to 
school  the  minimum  number  of  hours. 

The  conditions  of  labour  in  the  factories  are  far 
from  satisfactory — in  many  of  them  they  are  posi- 
tively disgraceful.  Here,  again,  the  Government 
has  made  quite  a careful  study  of  the  question 
and  has  repeatedly  submitted  to  the  Parliament 
a draft  of  factory  legislation.  Only  last  winter 
(1911)  a law  was  enacted,  with  emendations,  how- 
ever, which  waive  some  vital  provisions.  It  was 
thought  by  the  legislators  that  a rigid  enforcement 
of  a stringent  factory  law  might  kill  our  infant 
industries;  for,  be  it  remembered,  our  industrial 
system  is  about  a century  behind  that  of  England. 
The  spirit  of  the  said  law  is  gradually  to  prepare 
our  industries  during  the  coming  fifteen  years,  for 
the  complete  adoption  of  all  the  requirements  of 
hygiene  and  education.  Any  seed  of  reform,  how- 
ever, is  better  than  no  seed,  and  this  enactment 
will  lead  to  closer  inspection  and  encourage  further 
improvement  in  our  mills.  As  the  new  law  forbids 
the  employment  of  children  under  nine  in  factories, 
and  the  working  of  women  at  night,  a starting 
point  is  provided  for  a better  condition  of  things. 

Industrial*  progress  is  so  intimately  connected 
with  foreign  trade  that,  without  understanding  the 
state  of  the  one,  it  is  impossible  to  comprehend  that 
of,  the  other.  A generation  ago  (1876),  our  total 
foreign  trade  (exports  and  imports  together)  was 

IS 


226  XKe  Japanese  Nation 

slightly  over  50,000,000  yen,  or  one  and  one-half 
yen  per  head  of  population,  and  by  1910  it  had 
risen  to  over  922,000,000  or  over  eighteen  yen  per 
capita.  Of  late  the  amount  of  imports  has  been 
steadily  exceeding  that  of  exports,  owing  to  large 
purchases  made  abroad  during  the  war.  The 
excess  of  imports,  necessitating  the  payment  of  the 
balance  in  gold,  together  with  the  need  of  sending 
about  seventy-eight  millions  as  interest  on  our 
foreign  loans — ^public,  municipal,  and  company — 
has  been  draining  the  country  of  gold  specie,  and 
one  of  the  most  serious  questions  with  which  we 
must  cope  is  how  to  make  good  its  possible  de- 
ficiency in  the  near  future. 

When  the  coimtry  was  opened  to  foreign  trade, 
sixty  years  ago,  it  was  naturally  carried  on  en- 
tirely by  foreigners.  That  tradition  lasted  long 
enough,  and  so  of  late  years,  in  the  natural  course 
of  development,  the  Japanese  have  been  gradually 
taking  the  export  and  import  trade  into  their  own 
hands, — much  to  the  chagrin  of  those  who  were 
accustomed  to  look  upon  it  as  their  prerogative. 
Whereas,  in  1906,  forty-six  per  cent,  of  the  foreign 
trade  was  transacted  by  the  Japanese  themselves, 
in  1910  the  proportion  rose  to  fifty-four  per  cent., 
and  every  year  will  and  must  see  its  progres- 
sion. We  think  it  only  proper  to  designate  this 
progress,  but  in  the  English  language,  which 
is  in  current  use  among  foreign  merchants  in 
Japan,  it  is  described  as  “the  Japs  stealing  our 
business,  ” — a curious  use  of  the  verb  unknown  to 


Economic  Conditions 


227 


Johnson  or  even  Webster  when  they  wrote  their 
dictionaries. 

To  return  from  etymology  to  commerce,  the 
chief  articles  of  import  are  cotton  and  wool,  iron 
and  steel,  sugar,  grain,  machinery,  chemicals,  and 
oils.  The  United  States  supply  us  with  nearly 
all  of  our  imported  flour  (wheat),  sole  leather, 
kerosene  oil,  and  a large  amount  of  raw  cotton,  as 
well  as  iron  and  steel. 

Among  the  items  of  our  export,  the  principal  are 
silk,  cotton  goods,  copper,  coal,  tea,  marine  pro- 
ducts, grain,  drugs,  chemicals,  and  matches.  The 
United  States  is  by  far  our  largest  customer. 
Nearly  all  our  tea  finds  its  way  thither,  and  I 
can  testify  that  the  Government  enforces  stringent 
laws  against  artificially  colouring  or  adulterating  it. 
Then,  yearly,  about  three  million  dollars’  worth  of 
porcelain  is  brought  to  the  United  States,  together 
with  a similar  amount  of  straw-braids.  But  be- 
yond comparison  the  greatest  product  of  our 
land  exported  to  America  is  silk,  of  which  nearly 
a hundred  million  dollars’  worth  is  annually  bought 
by  your  country,  supplying  over  sixty  per  cent,  of 
all  your  silken  demands. 

Among  the  countries  from  which  w'e  make  our 
purchases,  British  India  holds  the  first  place  with 
its  supply  of  raw  cotton,  then  follow  Great  Britain 
and  China;  the  United  States  stands  as ‘fourth  in 
the  list,  with  Germany  steadily  catching  up.  It 
has  been  said  the  Kaiser’s  subjects  will  prove  the 
keenest  competitors  of  America,  in  the  Far  East. 


228  The  Japanese  Nation 

As  for  the  countries  which  buy  of  us,  by  far  the 
most  important  is  the  United  States,  she  being 
the  only  customer  whose  purchases  have  regularly 
been  above  one  hundred  and  twenty  million  yen, 
whereas  China  comes  next  with  eighty  or  ninety 
millions,  followed  by  France,  which  trails  far 
behind. 

Unfortunately  and  often  unjustly,  but  alas 
sometimes  justly! — our  commercial  morality,  espe- 
cially in  dealings  with  foreigners,  has  been  assailed. 
The  articles  sent  out  by  our  merchants  have  often 
fallen  short  of  the  standard  of  the  sample,  their 
weight  has  proved  lighter  than  stated  in  the 
invoice,  or  their  length  less;  then,  too,  they  have 
lacked  uniformity  in  workmanship.  I believe 
there  may  too  frequently  have  been  intentional 
dishonesty;  but  it  has  far  oftener  been  true  that 
uniformity  of  standard  was  impracticable,  since 
many  of  our  export  goods  are  products  of  hand- 
labour  and  therefore  inevitably  subject  to  varia- 
tion— a fact  well  understood  and  allowed  for  in 
the  transactions  of  our  home-trade,  but  not  suf- 
ficiently considered  by  foreign  importers  accus- 
tomed to  machine-made  goods. 

To  avert  further  discredit  of  our  commercial 
morality,  and  to  prevent  dishonest  practices, 
guilds  have  been  formed  in  all  parts  of  the  country 
and  in  all  trades.  Their  main  fimction  is  to 
examine  manufactured  goods  destined  for  export, 
and  to  condemn  such  as  are  found  lacking  in 
quality,  weight,  or  length.  Such  goods  are  even 


Economic  Conditions 


229 


publicly  burned.  Of  these  industrial  guilds  there 
are  at  present  about  six  thousand.  There  is  a 
special  conditioning  house  in  Yokohama,  where 
all  silk  intended  for  export  must  be  examined 
before  being  shipped  abroad. 

Commercial  dishonesty,  so  often  branded  by 
foreign  merchants  as  peculiarly  Japanese,  is  but  a 
passing  phase.  Experience  teaches  that  “Honesty 
is  the  best  policy,  ” and  this  kind  of  morality  is  a 
virtue  easily  learned.  As  a burnt  child  has  a 
wholesome  fear  of  fire,  so  does  a tradesman  find 
that  it  does  not  pay  to  cheat.  Moreover,  what 
nation  can  throw  the  first  stone  at  another  for 
breach  of  honesty?  In  a recent  issue  of  the 
Century  Magazme  (April,  1912),  a well-known 
American  writer  gives  his  countrymen’s  disregard 
of  the  observance  of  the  terms  of  contract  as  a 
reason  why  the  United  States  does  not  make 
greater  advance  in  its  trade  wdth  Italy.  The 
impotence  of  American  insurance  companies  to 
meet  their  obligations  after  the  earthquake  and 
fire  in  San  Francisco,  is  a notorious  illustration  of 
business  immorality.  Examples  like  these  may 
be  multiplied,  but  they  do  not  convince  us  that 
Americans  as  a nation  are  deficient  in  moral  sense 
— neither  does  the  immoral  practice  of  some  indi- 
vidual Japanese  merchants  prove  that  honesty  is 
foreign  to  our  soil.  The  truth  is  that  all  are  alike 
sinners,  but  we  all  find  comfort  in  believing  that 
we  are  rising  upward,  making  stepping-stones  of 
our  own  dead  selves. 


230 


The  Japanese  Nation 


Commerce,  apparently  sordid  and  selfish,  is 
evidently  the  handmaid  of  a higher  principle.  The 
time  has  passed  of  which  Goldsmith  sang  that 
“honour  sinks  when  commerce  long  prevails.” 
On  the  contrary,  it  is  raising  the  international 
standard  of  morahty,  teaching  fair  play  and  a 
square  deal,  uniting  nations  and  peoples,  and 
bridging  space.  As,  with  the  growth  of  a nation’s 
commerce,  its  monetary  system  comes  to  be 
changed  and  expanded,  so  will  its  concept  of  moral 
values  and  its  media  of  mental  exchange  be  modi- 
fied and  enlarged  and  brought  into  unity  with  world 
standards.  The  empire  of  trade  encompasses  the 
globe,  and  men  through  gainful  effort  are  learning 
that  by  argosies  of  merchandise,  and  not  by  Dread- 
noughts, will  be  decided  the  final  victory  on  the 
race-course  of  nations.  As  all  roads,  primarily 
military,  led  to  Rome,  so  all  trade  routes  now  lead 
to  Peace.  The  economic  interests  of  our  people 
are  in  themselves  a strong  argument  for  the  main- 
tenance of  peace  in  the  Far  East,  and  notably 
with  our  large  creditor  and  chief  customer,  the 
United  States. 


CHAPTER  IX 


JAPAN  AS  COLONISER 

History  has  repeatedly  shown  “how  wide 
the  limits  stand  between  a splendid  and 
a happy  land.”  As  with  individuals,  so  with 
nations,  greatness  and  happiness  lie,  alas ! too  often 
at  opposite  poles.  What  belongs  to  the  one  may 
be  shared  by  the  other;  but,  as  a rule,  he  who 
plucks  the  flower  must  forego  the  fruit.  Falsely 
or  truly  (it  is  not  now  my  purpose  to  discuss  the 
moral  or  political  issues  involved  in  colonial  enter- 
prise), modem  nations  vie  with  one  another  to 
express  their  greatness  and  splendour  in  territorial 
expansion,  or  else  in  ethnic  colonisation. 

With  the  acquisition  of  the  small  island  of  For- 
mosa in  1895,  Japan  joined  the  ranks  of  colonial 
powers.  Since  then,  she  has  added  the  southern 
half  of  the  island  of  Saghalien  by  the  treaty  of 
Portsmouth  in  1905  and  the  kingdom  of  Korea, 
now  officially  called  Chosen,  by  annexation  in  191 1 . 
Besides  these  territories,  Japan  holds  the  small 
province  of  Kw'ang-tung  in  the  Liao  Tung  penin- 
sula, as  w'ell  as  a long  and  narrow  strip  of  land 


231 


232  The  J apanese  Nation 

along  the  South  Manchurian  railroad.  These 
last  two  were  leased  from  China  in  continuation  of 
the  contract  which  that  nation  had  made  with 
Russia  before  the  war. 

In  recounting  what  Japan  has  done  as  a colo- 
niser, I shall  for  several  reasons  devote  my  time  to 
a review  of  what  she  has  achieved  in  Formosa.  In 
the  first  place,  because  it  is  the  first,  and  may  be 
called  the  only  colony  with  which  we  have  had 
experience  of  any  length;  in  the  second  place,  be- 
cause it  has  served  the  purpose  of  educating  us 
in  the  art  of  colonisation ; and  in  the  third  place, 
because  the  administration  of  this  island  forms 
a precedent  for  the  government  of  later  acquisi- 
tions. To  these  three  reasons  may  be  appended 
one  other — namely,  that  I can  speak  of  Formosa 
from  a long  and  personal  connection  with  it ; and 
to  me  the  last  is  here  the  strongest  and  the  best 
reason. 

Before  proceeding  fmther,  let  us  refresh  our 
memory  regarding  geography. 

Scattered  over  a wide  surface  of  the  globe  are 
about  a dozen  places  christened  with  the  Portu- 
guese term  Formosa — “Beautiful.”  It  is  needless 
to  add  that  the  word  is  of  Latin  origin,  despite  the 
fact  that  it  is  not  to  be  foimd  in  the  ancient  or  in 
the  mediaeval  hst  of  nomina  geographica.  Among 
the  modem  places  bearing  the  name,  some  are  so 
small  that  many  gazetteers  do  not  condescend  to 
notice  their  existence. 

There  is  an  immense  territory  of  the  name  of 


Japan  as  Coloniser 


233 


Formosa  covering  42,000  square  miles,  in  the 
north  of  Argentine.  Then  there  is  a little  town 
of  the  same  name  on  the  north-eastern  coast  of 
Brazil,  as  well  as  one  on  the  southern  coast  of 
South  Africa.  Among  the  group  of  the  Bissagos 
islands,  is  a Formosa.  In  the  interior  of  Europe, 
too,  on  the  Russian  border,  near  the  Danube,  is  a 
village  of  the  same  name.  On  a map  of  Asia,  we 
find  Mount  Formosa,  Formosa  River,  Formosa 
Strait,  Formosa  Banks,  etc.  On  the  American 
continent,  in  Bruce  County,  Ontario,  there  is  a 
settlement  called  Formosa.  In  the  slightly  modi- 
fied form  of  Formoso,  there  is  a banking  and  post 
village  in  Kansas  (Jewell  Co.),  and  in  the  still  more 
modified  Spanish  form  of  Hermosa,  one  meets  with 
the  same  name  in  New  Mexico  (Sierra  Co.),  in 
South  Dakota  (Custer  Co.),  and  in  California. 

Thus,  in  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  North  and  South 
America  are  found  Formosas.  But  the  Formosa 
which  is  the  subject  of  my  discourse,  is,  I suppose, 
the  best  known  of  them  all.  It  is  an  island,  lying 
a short  distance  off  the  eastern  coast  of  China.  Its 
area  is  14,000  square  miles,  being  about  240  miles 
in  length,  with  the  Tropic  of  Cancer  crossing 
through  its  centre.  Of  volcanic  formation,  ranges 
of  slaty  and  schistose  mountains,  mainly  of  the 
Tertiary"  age,  run  through  its  length,  some  of  their 
peaks  towering  as  high  as  13,000  feet.  The  eastern 
coast  is  rocky  and  steep,  affording  very  few  landing 
places ; but  the  western  coast  consists  of  flat,  fertile, 
alluvial  plains,  where  are  raised  rice,  sugar  cane. 


234 


XHe  Japanese  Nation 


tea,  ramie,  bananas,  oranges,  and  sweet  potatoes. 
Among  the  mountains  grow  gigantic  trees  of 
various  kinds,  the  most  important  being  camphor 
and  hmoki  {Thuya  obtusa.) 

The  island  is  as  beautiful  as  it  is  fertile.  The 
Portuguese  navigators,  as  they  sailed  along  the 
eastern  coast,  were  so  charmed  by  its  precipitous 
but  wooded  mountains,  its  fantastic  rocks  and 
the  foaming  billows  which  dash  against  them,  that 
they  put  down  in  their  log-book  their  favorite 
name  of  “Ihla  Formosa.”  From  the  other  side, 
the  Chinese,  who  can  quite  easily  reach  the  western 
coast  in  their  junks — the  distance  from  Foochow 
to  a Formosan  port  is  only  a little  over  a hundred 
miles — were  struck  with  its  beauty,  as  from  their 
anchorage  they  saw  hillsides  inhabited  and  culti- 
vated, and  they  called  it  Taiwan,  the  “Terraced 
Bay,”  which  is  still  the  official  designation  of  the 
island.  The  Japanese,  too,  had  long  known  of  it, 
and  in  times  past  venturesome  spirits  used  to 
frequent  it,  but  in  later  days  only  the  poetical 
name  “Takasago”  (The  High  Sandy  Tract) 
remained,  suggesting  in  popular  fancy  a land  of 
lotus-eaters. 

Our  knowledge  of  Takasago  was  as  fanciful  as 
the  account  given  of  the  island  by  that  famous 
literary  impostor,  George  Psalmanazar.  A French- 
man by  birth  (bom  about  1679),  he  was  taken  from 
Holland  to  England  by  the  chaplain  of  a Scotch 
regiment,  and  was  there  received  with  much  curi- 
osity and  honour  because  of  his  well-maintained 


Japan  as  Coloniser 


pretension  of  being  a native  of  Formosa.  His 
amusing  treatise  on  A History  and  Description  of 
the  Island  of  Formosa  off  the  Coast  of  China,  pub- 
lished in  London  in  1 704,  still  remains  an  amazing 
document  of  fabrication.  The  man  evidently 
showed  no  lack  of  intellectual  ingenuity  when  he 
constructed  an  entire  linguistic  system  including 
grammar  and  vocabulaiy'.  It  is  only  to  be  ex- 
pected that  his  description  did  not  tally  with  facts. 
Our  acquaintance  with  Formosa,  however,  was 
not  much  better.  But  it  came  quite  forcibly  and 
unpleasantly  upon  us  in  1874,  when  the  report 
spread  that  the  savages  of  Southern  Formosa  had 
slaughtered  some  Japanese  sailors  who  were 
wrecked  on  its  coast.  China  at  that  time  held 
sway  over  the  island.  For  the  murder  of  her  sub- 
jects, Japan  demanded  satisfaction  of  China,  but, 
as  the  Celestial  Government  evaded  responsibility, 
we  sent  an  army  to  the  island  itself.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  notice  that  a number  of  American  officers 
at  first  joined  in  this  expedition;  but,  being  warned 
by  their  Government  to  observ^e  strict  neutrality, 
they  reluctantly  left  our  service.  After  subju- 
gating the  hostile  tribe,  our  army  left  the  island, 
China  in  the  meantime  offering  to  pay  for  damages. 
Our  interest  in  Formosa  then  ceased,  and  nothing 
was  done  towards  its  conquest  or  even  towards 
securing  its  trade. 

More  than  twenty  years  later,  when  the  war 
between  China  and  Japan  came  to  an  end,  For- 
mosa was  most  unexpectedly  brought  into  promi- 


236  THe  Japanese  Nation 

nence.  When  Japan  proposed  that  China  should 
cede  the  island,  we  were  not  at  all  sure  that  the 
suggestion  would  be  regarded  with  favour.  But 
the  Chinese  plenipotentiary,  Li  Hung-Chang,  took 
up  the  proposition,  as  though  it  were  wise  on  the 
part  of  his  country  to  be  freed  from  an  encum- 
brance, and  he  even  commiserated  Japan  for 
acquiring  it.  He  pointed  out  that  the  island  was 
not  amenable  to  good  government:  (i)  that  brig- 
andage could  never  be  exterminated;  (2)  that  the 
practice  of  smoking  opium  was  too  deep-rooted 
and  wide-spread  among  the  people  to  eradicate; 
(3)  that  the  climate  was  not  salubrious;  and  (4) 
that  the  presence  of  head-himtmg  tribes  was  a 
constant  menace  to  economic  development.  The 
island,  somewhat  like  Sicily,  had,  in  the  course 
of  its  history,  been  subject  to  the  flags  of  various 
nations.  Holland,  Spain,  and  China  mled  it  at 
different  times ; a Hungarian  nobleman  once 
dominated  it;  and  at  one  time  Japanese  pirates 
had  practically  usurped  supreme  power  over  it. 
In  1884,  the  French  under  the  celebrated  Admiral 
Courbet  planted  the  tricolor  on  its  shores,  where 
it  waved  for  eight  months.  Such  instability  in 
government  is  enough  to  demorahse  any  people; 
but  among  the  inhabitants  themselves  there  were 
elements  which  put  law  and  order  to  naught. 

If  these  were  the  main  causes  of  chronic  misrule 
or  absence  of  any  rule  in  Formosa,  let  us  see  what 
Japan  has  done. 

In  accordance  with  the  stipulation  of  the  treaty 


Japan  as  Coloniser 


237 


of  Shimonoseki,  one  of  our  generals,  Count  Kaba- 
yama,  was  dispatched  as  Governor-General  of 
Formosa.  In  that  capacity,  he  was  about  to  land 
on  the  island  with  a large  army,  when  he  was  met 
by  the  Chinese  plenipotentiary  at  the  port  of 
Kelung,  and  in  an  interview  which  took  place  on 
board  the  steamer  Yokohama  Maru,  the  17th  of 
April,  1895,  it  was  arranged  that  a landing  should 
be  effected  without  opposition. « This  marked  the 
first  occupation  of  the  island  by  our  troops. 
There  were  at  that  time  some  Imperial  Chinese 
soldiers  still  remaining  in  the  island,  and  they 
were  ordered  to  disarm  and  leave  the  country. 
Many  did  so,  but  a few'  remained  to  oppose  our 
advance;  there  w'ere  also  a few'  patriots  w'ho  did 
not  feel  ready  to  accept  our  terms — not  prepared 
to  accept  alien  rule, — and  these  either  went  from 
the  island  or  took  up  arms  against  us.  The  so- 
called  patriots  proclaimed  a republic,  one  of  the 
very  few'  republics  ever  started  in  Asia.  Tang 
Ching-Sung  was  elected  president.  The  republic 
of  Formosa  lasted  three  weeks,  during  w'hich 
mobocracy  and  deviltry  in  all  its  forms  reigned  su- 
preme, leaving  behind  no  evidence  of  its  existence 
other  than  some  postage  stamps  valuable  for 
collectors ! At  this  time  the  professional  brigands 
took  advantage  of  the  general  disturbance  to  ply 
their  trade.  Peaceful  citizens  suffered  more  from  the 
hands  of  their  ow'n  countrymen — that  is,  from 
Chinese  troops  and  brigands — than  they  did  from 
us.  Evidence  of  this  lies  in  the  fact  that,  as  our 


238  The  Japanese  Nation 

army  approached  the  different  towns,  it  was  every- 
where received  with  open  arms  as  a deliverer  from 
robbery  and  slaughter.  As  for  Tang  Ching-Sung, 
he  fled  to  China,  as  did  also  some  of  the  w'ealthiest 
inhabitants,  although  many  of  these,  learning  of 
the  security  enjoyed  imder  Japanese  rule,  have 
since  returned. 

Though  the  island  was  pacified,  no  one  knew 
what  would  happen  next.  We  did  not  tmderstand 
the  character  of  the  people.  Very  few  Japanese 
could  speak  Formosan,  and  fewer  Formosans 
could  speak  Japanese.  There  was  naturally 
mutual  distrust  and  suspicion.  The  bandits 
abounded  everywhere.  Under  these  conditions 
military  rule  was  the  only  form  of  government  that 
could  be  adopted  until  better  assurance  could  be 
obtained  of  the  disposition  of  the  people.  To 
carry  out  a military  regime,  it  was  calculated 
that  some  ten  million  yen  (five  million  dollars) 
wciild  be  needed  yearly.  Out  of  this  necessary 
sum  only  three  million  yen  could  be  obtained  in 
the  island  by  taxation  and  from  other  sources  of 
revenue.  The  balance  had  to  be  defrayed  by 
the  Imperial,  that  is  by  the  Japanese,  exchequer. 
Now,  in  those  years,  an  annual  appropriation  of 
six  or  seven  million  yen,  to  be  spent  in  an  island 
far  from  home,  with  no  immediate  prospect  of 
return,  was  a heavy  burden  for  the  rather  limited 
finances  of  Japan.  We  know  how  land  values  are 
rising  everywhere.  Even  in  Africa,  England  had 
to  pay  very  much  more  than  she  expected  she 


Japan  as  Coloniser 


239 


would  have  to,  in  getting  land  in  the  south ; and  I 
think  Ita’y  has  by  this  time  found  Tripoli  rather 
more  expensive  than  she  at  first  anticipated.  A 
colony  that  looks  at  a distance  like  the  goose  that 
lays  the  golden  egg,  on  nearer  approach,  and 
especially  when  you  have  to  pay  the  bills,  often 
proves  to  be  a white  elephant.  So  among  us, 
impatient  people,  infatuated  with  gloire  politique, 
who  had  expected  great  things  and  great  benefits 
to  come  from  Formosa,  began  to  clamour  for 
greater  thrift,  and  some  of  the  very  best  pub- 
licists went  even  so  far  as  to  propose  that  the 
island  should  be  sold  back  to  China  or  to  some 
other  Power.  To  remedy  this  state  of  affairs,  in 
the  course  of  some  thirty  months  governors  were 
changed  no  less  than  three  times. 

The  first  Governor-General  was  Cotmt  Kaba- 
yama,  known  as  a hero  of  the  Chino- Japanese 
War;  the  second  was  no  less  a man  than  Prince 
Katsura,  of  international  fame  as  our  Prime- 
Minister  during  the  war  with  Russia;  and  the 
third  was  General  Nogi,‘of  Port  Arthur  renown. 
Finding  that  the  coimtry  could  ill  afford  such 
a luxury  as  a colony,  the  Parliament  of  Japan  cut 
down  its  appropriation  of  six  or  seven  million 
yen  payable  from  the  national  treasury  by  about 
one-third,  thus  reducing  the  subsidy  to  only  four 
millions.  Now  who  would  accept  a position 
held  by  such  a galaxy  of  talents,  but  now  reduced 
financially  to  two-thirds  of  its  former  prestige? 
Only  a man  of  unbounded  resource,  of  keen  per- 


240  The  Japanese  Nation 

ception  and  quick  decision — or  else  only  a second 
or  third-rate  man — would  accept  such  a place. 
Japan  is  forever  to  be  congratiilated  on  finding  the 
right  man  at  the  right  time  for  the  right  place. 
Viscount  Kodama,  who,  as  a member  of  the  Gen- 
eral Staff,,  had  made  a study  of  the  Formosan  prob- 
lem, was  ready  to  accept  the  governorship  and  the 
task  of  putting  to  rights  the  bankrupt  housekeep- 
ing of  the  colony.  I am  afraid  that  this  name,  so 
well  known  among  us,  is  much  less  familiar  in 
America.  Perhaps  you  can  best  remember  it,  if  I 
tell  you  that  he  was  the  real  brains  of  the  Russo- 
Japanese  War.  In  the  choice  of  his  assistant,  the 
civil  governor,  he  made  the  discovery,  as  he  called 
it,  of  a man  who  proved  himself  a true  right  hand, 
and  who  in  efficiency  actually  exceeded  his  most 
sanguine  expectations.  I refer  to  Baron  Goto, 
who  in  the  last  cabinet  held  the  post  of  Minister  of 
Communications  and  was  President  of  the  Railway 
Board.  Until  he  was  made  civil  governor  of 
Formosa  under  Kodama,  he  had  been  known  as 
an  expert  on  hygiene,  having  been  a physician. 
The  advent  of  these  two  men  in  Formosa  marked 
a new  era  in  our  colonial  administration.  Upon 
entering  their  new  duties  early  in  1898,  the  first 
thing  they  did  was  to  bring  about  a practical  sus- 
pension of  military  rule;  at  least,  it  w'as  made  sub- 
servient to  civil  administration.  Military  rule  is 
apt  to  become  harsh,  and  to  the  Chinese  especially, 
who  are  not  accustomed  to  respect  the  army,  it  is 
doubly  harsh.  - 


Japan  as  Coloniser 


241 


Kodama  and  Goto,  to  whom  English  colonial 
service  was  an  inspiring  example,  surprised  the 
official  w'orld  by  a summary  discharge  of  over  one 
thousand  public  servants  of  high  and  low  degree. 
They  collected  about  them  men  known  and  tried 
for  their  knowledge  and  integrity.  They  used 
often  to  say:  “It  is  the  man  who  rules  and  not  red 
tape.”  In  an  old  and  well-settled  coimtry  “red 
tape”  may  be  convenient,  but  in  a new  colony 
great  latitude  of  power  and  initiative  must  be  left 
to  individual  men.  I emphasise  this  point  because 
these  men,  I mean  the  Governor-General  and  the 
civil  governor,  attributed  their  success  largely  to 
the  selection  and  use  of  right  men. 

When  General  Kodama  went  to  Formosa,  he 
found  brigandage  still  rampant,  and  with  military 
rule  in  abeyance  there  was  some  likelihood  of  its 
becoming  worse.  To  offset  this,  the  constabulary 
department  was  organised  and  made  efficient  by 
proper  care  in  choosing  men  for  the  police  and  by 
educating  them  in  the  rudiments  of  law  and  in- 
dustries, to  prepare  them  for  their  difficult  and  deli- 
cate tasks.  Exceedingly  arduous  are  their  callings, 
for  these  policemen  are  required  not  only  to  repre- 
sent law  and  order  but  are  expected  to  be  teachers 
as  well.  They  keep  account,  for  instance,  of  every 
resident  of  the  island,  and  they  watch  over  every 
man  and  woman  who  smokes  opium;  they  must 
become  acquainted  with  children  of  school-age 
and  know  which  children  go  to  school  and  which 
do  not.  Our  Formosan  police  are  expected  to 

16 


242  THe  Japanese  Nation 

instruct  the  people  how  to  take  care  of  themselves, 
especially  in  regard  to  pests  and  about  disinfection. 
They  perform  many  duties  that  would  scarcely 
be  required  even  of  the  Trooper  Police  of  Australia. 
They  often  live  in  villages  where  there  are  no 
Japanese  other  than  the  members  of  their  own 
families.  Of  course,  they  must  know  the  Formosan 
language  and  speak  it. 

Now,  under  civil  administration,  armies  were 
not  mobilised  against  brigands,  and  if  there  was 
any  trouble,  it  was  the  policemen  who  had  to  go 
cope  with  the  situation.  The  brigands  were  first 
invited  to  subject  themselves  to  law,  and  if  they 
surrendered  their  arms,  they  were  assuned  not  only 
of  protection  but  of  means  of  subsistence.  Not  a 
few  leaders  took  the  hint  and  were  given  special 
privileges.  Those  who  resisted  to  the  end  were 
necessarily  treated  as  distimbers  and  as  criminals. 
Twelve  years  ago  the  brigands  were  so  powerful 
that  the  capital  of  Formosa,  Taihoku  (Taipeh), 
was  assaulted  by  them ; but  in  the  last  ten  years  we 
have  scarcely  heard  of  them.  I went  to  Taihoku 
ten  years  ago,  and,  whenever  I went  a few  miles  out 
of  the  city,  half-a-dozen  policemen  armed  with 
rifles  used  to  accompany  me  for  my  protection. 
For  the  last  five  or  six  years  a yoimg  girl  could 
travel  immolested  from  one  end  of  the  island  to 
the  other — of  course,  outside  of  savage  or  abo- 
riginal districts,  of  which  I shall  speak  later. 

Thus,  what  Li  Himg-Chang  said  in  the  con- 
ference of  Shimonoseki  turned  out  to  be  of  little 


Japan  as  Coloniser 


243 


consequence.  Aceording  to  him,  brigandage  ’A’as 
something  inherent  in  the  social  structure  of  For- 
mosa. He  said  it  was  something  that  could  not  be 
uprooted  in  the  island;  yet  here  is  Formosa  to-day 
with  not  a trace  of  it.  That  is  one  of  the  first 
things  which  was  accomplished  by  Japan  as  a 
coloniser. 

Then,  another  great  evil  in  the  island,  to  which 
Li  Htmg-Chang  alluded,  was  the  smoking  of 
opium.  When  the  island  w'as  taken  over,  this 
subject  w^as  much  discussed  by  our  people.  Some 
said  opium-smoking  must  be  summarily  and 
unconditionally  abolished  by  law.  Others  said: 
“No,  no,  let  it  alone;  it  is  something  from  which 
the  Chinese  cannot  free  themselves;  let  them 
smoke  and  smoke  themselves  to  death.”  What 
took  Baron  Goto  for  the  first  time  to  Formosa  was 
the  mission  of  studying  this  question  from  a medi- 
cal standpoint,  and  the  plan  he  drew  up  was  for 
the  gradual  suppression  of  the  evil.  The  modus 
operandi  was  the  control  of  the  production  by  the 
Government;  because,  if  the  Government  mono- 
polises the  production  and  manufacture  of  opium, 
it  can  restrict  the  quantity  as  w’ell  as  improve  the 
quality  so  as  to  make  it  less  harmful.  Smuggling 
was  watched  and  punished.  A long  list  of  all 
those  who  were  addicted  to  this  habit  was  com- 
piled, and  only  those  who  were  eonfirmed  smokers 
were  given  permission  to  buy  the  drug.  Children 
and  those  who  had  never  smoked  were  not 
allowed  to  buy,  much  less  to  begin  the  use  of, 


244  TKe  Japanese  Nation 

opium,  and  strict  surveillance  was  instituted  by 
the  police,  who,  as  I mentioned  before,  know 
every  man  in  the  villages  to  which  they  are 
appointed.  The  annual  returns  made  of  confirmed 
smokers  and  of  the  quantity  consumed  in  the 
island,  show  a distinct  and  gradual  decrease.  In 
1900  those  addicted  to  the  habit  numbered  in 
round  figures  170,000,  or  6.3  per  cent,  of  the 
population.  As  the  older  smokers  die  off,  yoimger 
ones  do  not  come  to  take  their  place ; so  there  is  a 
constant  diminution.  In  five  years  the  number 
decreased  to  130,000  or  3.5  per  cent,  of  the  popu- 
lation. We  think  this  is  the  only  right  way  to 
deal  with  this  vice.  It  may  interest  you,  perhaps, 
to  know  that  American  commissioners  from  the 
Philippine  Islands  came  to  study  our  system,  and 
that  they  expressed  much  satisfaction  with  its 
results.  Thus,  the  second  evil  which  Li  Hung- 
Chang  said  was  ineradicable  in  Formosa,  has  been 
greatly  weakened  and  seems  destined  to  disappear. 

What  man  has  built  up,  man  can  destroy. 
The  artificial  habit  of  opium-smoking  can  be 
discouraged  by  law.  But  there  are  formidable 
natural  enemies  which  confront  the  soimd  eco- 
nomic development  of  the  island.  I mean  its  sani- 
tary disadvantages,  especially  some  prevalent 
forms  of  disease — above  aU,  malaria  and  bubonic 
plague  and  tropical  dysentery. 

What  money  and  the  spirit  of  enterprise  have 
undertaken  has  so  often  been  largely  nullified  by  a 
small  mosquito.  There  are  no  less  than  eight 


Japan  as  Coloniser 


245 


kinds  of  Anopheles,  responsible  yearly  for  at  least 
twenty  per  cent,  of  aU  cases  of  sickness,  many  of 
which  end  in  death. 

Chiefly  owing,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  malaria, 
the  population  of  Formosa  has  never  been  very 
great.  It  appears  that  in  pre-Japanese  days,  the 
population  of  the  island  was  recruited  by  immi- 
grants from  China.  Only  lately  is  the  birth-rate 
slowly  showing  a net  increase  over  and  above  the 
death-rate.  The  mortality  from  malaria  has  been 
roughly  estimated  at  three-and-a-half  per  thou- 
sand of  population.  Among  the  Japanese,  this 
rate  is  diminishing,  but  not  among  the  Chinese. 
The  fact  that  new-comers  from  Japan  are  so  easily 
attacked,  is  the  greatest  drawback  to  colonising  the 
island.  Sugar-mills,  for  want  of  sufficient  labour, 
have  imported  Japanese;  but  usually  one-third  of 
them  cannot  be  depended  upon — that  is  to  say, 
the  efficiency  of  labour  maybe  said  to  be  diminished 
by  one-third  on  account  of  malaria.  When  I 
went  to  Panama  last  winter,  nothing  commanded 
my  respect  for  the  American  work  conducted  there 
more  than  Colonel  Goethals’s  system  of  sanitation. 
As  I meditated  upon  the  careful  detail  of  medical 
supervision  in  the  Canal  Zone,  I naturally  com- 
pared the  restdts  with  the  situation  in  Formosa, 
and  thought  if  we  could  afford  to  spend  as  much 
money  as  the  Canal  Commission  does,  if  Taiwan 
were  smaller  in  size,  if  it  could  be  brought  under 
military  administration,  and  if  there  were  no  rice- 
fields — then  we’might  succeed  better  in  our  crusade 


246  THe  Japanese  Nation 

against  the  insect.  Even  under  present  conditions 
every  effort  is  made  to  drive  out  malaria;  and  in 
the  meantime  an  army  of  scientists  is  advancing 
against  the  Anopheles  in  biological,  physiological, 
and  chemical  columns,  with  clearly  visible  results. 
In  the  barracks  outside  of  Taihoku,  there  is  little 
malaria.  In  the  town  itself,  the  improved  drain- 
age— a sewerage  system  having  been  constructed 
of  the  stones  of  which,  in  Chinese  days,  the  city 
walls  were  built — has  evidently  contributed  toward 
the  same  end.  So,  also,  has  the  good  water  supply, 
which  has  taken  the  place  of  wells  and  cisterns. 
Then,  too,  new  building  regulations  enforce  better 
ventilation  and  access  to  sxmlight.  In  the  prin- 
cipal cities,  large  portions  of  the  town  have  been 
entirely  rebuilt.  I have  heard  it  said  by  medical 
men  that  if  the  Japanese  coming  to  Taiwan  make 
their  domicile  in  the  capital  (Taihoku)  and  remain 
there,  they  are  quite  free  from  malaria.  Other 
cities,  notably  Tainan  in  the  south,  are  making 
sanitary  improvements,  so  that  they  will  probably 
show  a similar  immimity  within  a few  years.  As 
for  the  island  at  large,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
irrigation  is  the  very  life  of  rice-culture,  there 
are  necessarily  unlimited  breeding-places  for  mos- 
quitoes. Consequently,  general  hygienic  progress, 
such  as  Dr.  Boyce  describes  with  just  pride  in 
writing  of  the  West  Indies,  wih  not  be  so  easy  to 
accomplish  in  Formosa. 

Smallpox  and  cholera  have  been  practically 
eliminated  from  the  list  of  prevalent  diseases. 


Japan  as  Coloniser 


247 


With  the  bubonic  plague,  the  Government  has  had 
a pretty  hard  fight.  Dr.  Takaki,  who  has  been 
chief  of  sanitation  for  some  years,  has  devoted  his 
energy  and  scientific  knowledge  to  the  eradication 
of  it  by  every  possible  means,  so  that  there  has 
been  a steady  and  regular  decrease  of  pest  since 
1906. 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  decline  and  fall  of  the 
sway  of  the  Black  Death,  I will  state  in  round 
numbers  the  death-rates  for  the  following  years : 


1905 

1906 

1907 

1908 

1909 

1910 

1911 


4.500 

3.350 

3.250 

2,700 

1,300 

1.030 

20 


Though  we  still  suffer  from  its  sporadic  appear- 
ance, we  have  every  promise  of  its  near  extinction. 
At  present,  the  most  troublesome  disease  is  trop- 
ical dysentery,  which,  if  not  usually  fatal,  is  ex- 
tremely persistent  and  enervating. 

Allow  me  to  insert  here  a remark  about  the 
rinderpest.  Some  ten  years  ago,  its  ravages  were 
so  great  that  we  feared  we  might  lose  all  our  water 
buffaloes  and  bullocks ; but,  thanks  to  vigilance  and 
inoculation,  we  have  for  the  last  five  years  been 
having  only  a few  hundred  deaths  annually, 
whereas  they  used  to  be  counted  by  thousands. 


248  XHe  Japanese  Nation 

Thus  the  third  great  impediment  which  Li 
Hung-Chang  thought  would  prohibit  progress  in 
Taiwan  is  being  steadily  overcome,  and  now  I 
reach  the  fourth  and  last  obstruction, — ^namely 
the  presence  of  head-hunting  tribes,  allied  to  the 
head-hunters  of  Borneo  made  familiar  by  the  pen 
of  Professor  Haddon.  These  Malay  people  are 
the  oldest  known  inhabitants  of  the  island.  That 
they  are  not  autochthonous  is  evident  from  the 
tradition,  current  among  many  tribes,  that  their  an- 
cestors arrived  in  a boat  from  some  distant  quar- 
ter. At  present  they  number  about  one  hundred 
and  fifteen  thousand.  They  are  in  a very  primitive 
state  of  social  life.  The  only  art  with  which  they 
are  acquainted  is  agriculture,  and  that  of  a very 
rude  sort — what  in  Europe  is  called  spade-culture, 
or  what  scientific  men  dub  “Hack-Kultm-” 
(hoe  culture),  as  opposed  to  agriculture  proper, — a 
kind  of  farming  which  Mr.  Morgan  in  his  Primi- 
tive Society  first  explained  as  a precursor  of  real 
agriculture,  in  which  the  plough  is  used.  They 
raise  upland  rice,  millet,  peas,  beans,  and  some 
common  vegetables,  such  as  pumpkins  and  rad- 
ishes. They  do  not  know  the  art  of  fertilising 
land,  and  they  look  upon  manuring  as  an  act  of 
contamination. 

They  have  scarcely  any  clothing;  a few  tribes 
wear  none.  Their  houses  are  usually  built  of 
wood  and  bamboo  and  are  roofed  with  slate  or 
straw.  Scrupulously  clean  in  their  personal  habits, 
bathing  frequently,  they  keep  their  huts  very 


Japan  as  Coloniser 


249 


neat.  In  character,  they  are  brave  and  fierce 
when  roused  to  ire ; otherwise,  friendly  and  child- 
like. They  must  have  occupied  the  alluvial 
plains  of  the  coast  in  years  gone  by,  but  were 
driven  upward  by  the  Chinese  immigrants,  Hakkas 
and  Haklos,  until  they  now  dwell  among  almost 
inaccessible  heights. 

What  concerns  us  most  nearly  in  their  manner 
of  life,  is  their  much  venerated  custom  of  conse- 
crating any  auspicious  occasion  by  obtaining  a 
human  head.  If  there  is  a wedding  in  prospect, 
the  yoimg  man  cannot  marry  unless  he  brings  in 
a head,  and  the  susceptibility  of  the  human  heart 
being  much  the  same  in  savagery  as  in  civilisation, 
this  is  a tremendous  spur  to  head-hunting.  A 
funeral  cannot  be  observed  wdthout  a head. 
Indeed  aU  celebrations  of  any  importance  must  be 
graced  with  it.  Where  a bouquet  would  be  used 
by  you,  a grim  human  head,  freshly  cut,  is  the 
essential  decoration  at  their  banquet.  IMore- 
over,  a man’s  courage  is  tested  by  the  number  of 
heads  he  takes,  and  respect  for  him  grows  with  his 
achievements.  Thus  the  gruesome  objects  adorn 
the  so-called  skull-shelf,  for  the  same  reason  that 
lions’  and  stags’  heads  are  the  pride  of  a gentle- 
man’s hall.  One  sometimes  comes  across  a hut, 
near  which  is  placed  a tier  of  shelves  ornamented 
with  heads  in  aU  stages  of  decay — the  trophies  of 
some  brave  head-hunter! 

The  district  where  they  roam  is  marked  off  by 
outposts,  which  I shall  soon  describe.  Like  the 


250  XKe  Japanese  Nation 

“Forbidden  Territory”  or  homa  in  British  East 
Africa,  no  one  is  allowed  to  enter  the  “Savage 
Boundary”  without  permit  from  the  authorities. 
The  importance  of  this  decree  will  be  obvious  if  I 
state  that  its  area  covers  more  than  half  of  the 
island,  and  when  the  savages  want  ahead,  they  steal 
down,  hide  themselves  among  the  imderbrush  or 
among  the  branches  of  trees,  and  shoot  the  first 
unlucky  man  who  passes  by.  I was  told  of  one  sav- 
age who  had  his  rifle  so  placed  on  a support  that 
he  could  shoot  any  person  who  happened  to  walk 
past  a certain  fixed  distance  and  at  a certain 
height.  There  he  waited  for  days  for  somebody 
to  come  within  range ; and  he  succeeded  in  getting 
a head ! With  such  people  it  is  practically  impos- 
sible to  do  anything.  We  have  made  repeated 
attempts  to  subjugate  them;  but  so  far  we  have 
not  succeeded  in  doing  as  much  damage  to  them  as 
they  have  done  to  us. 

During  Chinese  ascendency  the  Government 
built  a line  of  military  posts,  somewhat  like  the 
trocha,  of  which  one  still  sees  remains  in  Cuba. 
But  after  we  had  tried  different  methods,  we  came 
at  last  to  the  use  of  electrically  charged  wire  fences. 
At  a safe  distance  from  savage  assaults,  generally 
along  the  ridge  of  mountain  ranges,  posts  about 
five  feet  high  are  planted  at  intervals  of  six  or  seven 
feet,  and  on  them  are  stnmg  four  strong  wires. 
On  each  side  of  the  fence  a space  of  some  thirty 
feet  or  so  is  cleared  of  brush,  so  that  any  one 
approaching  may  be  detected  at  once.  All  along 


Japan  as  Coloniser 

the  fence  are  block-houses,  perhaps  three,  four  or 
five  in  a mile,  guarded  by  armed  sentinels  (usually 
Chinese  trained  as  police),  who  are  semi-volun- 
teers.  The  most  important  feature  of  the  fence 
is  that  the  lowest  wire  has  a strong  electric  current 
running  through  it.  Such  a wire  fence  stretches  a 
distance  of  some  three  hundred  miles.  It  costs 
thousands  of  dollars  to  keep  it  in  order ; yet  every 
year  w'e  extend  some  miles  farther  into  the  savage 
district,  so  that  their  dominion  is  being  more  and 
more  restricted  to  the  tops  of  the  mountains. 
When  they  are  practically  caged,  w^e  make  over- 
tures to  them.  We  say,  “If  you  come  down  and 
don’t  indidge  in  head-himting,  we  will  welcome 
you  as  brothers,’’ — because  they  are  brothers. 
These  IMalay  tribes  resemble  the  Japanese  more 
than  they  do  the  Chinese,  and  they  themselves 
say  of  the  Japanese  that  w^e  are  their  kin  and 
that  the  Chinese  are  their  enemies.  Because  the 
Chinese  wear  queues,  they  think  that  their  heads 
are  especially  made  to  be  himted.  And  now  every 
year,  as  I say,  w^e  are  getting  better  control  over 
them  by  constantly  advancing  the  fence,  and 
owing  to  the  fact  that  they  are  in  want  of  salt,  cut 
off  as  they  are  from  the  sea.  Then  we  say,  “We 
will  give  you  salt  if  you  will  come  down  and  give  up 
your  weapons.’’  Thus  tribe  after  tribe  has  recog- 
nised our  power  through  the  instrumentality  of 
salt,  and  has  submitted  itself  to  Japanese  rule. 
Here  I may  say,  to  the  credit  of  these  primitive 
men,  that  when  once  their  promise  of  good  be- 


252  XKe  Japanese  Nation 

haviour  is  made,  it  is  kept.  When  they  submit 
themselves,  we  build  them  houses,  give  them 
agricultural  tools  and  implements,  give  them 
land,  and  let  them  continue  their  means  of  live- 
lihood in  peace. 

Thus  I have  dwelt  in  a very  sketchy  manner 
on  the  four  points  to  which  Li  Himg-Chang,  in 
the  conference  at  Shimonoseki,  alluded  as  great 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  governing  Formosa.  What, 
now,  is  the  result?  At  first  we  could  not  manage 
the  colony  with  the  money  that  we  could  raise  in 
the  island ; every  year  we  had  to  get  some  subsidy 
from  the  national  treasury.  It  was  thought 
that  such  a subsidy  would  be  necessary  un- 
til 1910.  But  by  the  development  of  Formosan 
industries — the  better  cultivation  of  rice,  the  im- 
proved production  of  Oolong  tea,  for  which  you 
are  the  best  customer,  the  control  of  the  camphor 
industry  (for  nearly  all  the  camphor  that  you  use, 
if  not  artificial,  is  produced  in  Formosa),  the  suc- 
cessful encouragement  of  cane  culture,  which  has 
increased  the  output  of  sugar  sixfold  in  the  last  ten 
years — by  developing  these  industries,  we  can  get 
money  enough  in  the  island  to  do  all  the  work 
that  is  needed  to  be  done  there.  An  accurate 
cadastral  survey  made  landed  property  secure, 
enhanced  its  value,  and  added  indirectly  to  its  tax- 
paying  capacity.  The  consumption  tax  placed  on 
sugar  alone  brings  in  more  than  one-third  of  the 
public  revenue.  The  growth  of  Formosa’s  foreign 
trade  has  been  such  that  the  customs  now  return 


Japan  as  Coloniser 


253 


no  mean  sum.  The  administration  of  the  Island 
has  been  so  successful  that  it  attained  financial 
independence  two  years  before  the  expiration  of 
the  term  fixed  for  it. 

There  still  remains  much  to  be  done.  Irrigation 
work,  for  instance,  is  being  carried  out  on  a large 
scale.  Then,  there  is  the  improvement  of  the 
harbours.  Both  in  the  north,  at  Kelung,  and  in 
the  south,  at  Takao,  commodious  and  deep  har- 
bours are  now  being  constructed  or  improved.  We 
have  built  a railroad  from  one  end  of  the  island 
to  the  other,  but  there  is  demand  for  further  ex- 
tention.  Schools  and  hospitals  are  to  be  met  with 
in  every  village  and  town,  but  more  are  needed. 
In  all  these  things  we  think  that  we  have  succeeded 
quite  well,  especially  when  we  compare  our  colony 
of  Formosa  with  the  experiments  that  other  nations 
are  making. 

In  giving  this  very  rough  sketch,  I have  only 
tried  to  show  the  general  fines  of  policy  pursued  in 
the  development  of  Formosa.  Though  the  colony 
was  at  first  thought  to  be  a luxury,  it  is  now  a 
necessity  to  us.  And  the  example  that  we  have 
set  for  ourselves  will  be  followed  in  our  other 
colonies. 

I may  say  that  the  general  principle  of  our  colo- 
nial policy  in  Formosa  was,  first  of  all,  the  defence 
of  the  island.  Much  is  said  about  our  increased 
navy.  Some  people  in  America  think  that  we  are 
enlarging  our  navy  prompted  by  a dubious  motive ; 
but  with  the  acquisition  of  Formosa,  of  the  island 


254  The  J apanese  Nation 

of  Saghalien,  and  of  Korea,  our  coast-line  has  been 
greatly  increased,  and  still  the  augmentation  of 
our  fleet  is  not  sufficient  for  the  proper  defence 
of  all  our  shores. 

The  second  principle  is  the  protection  of  prop- 
erty and  life,  and  the  dissemination  of  legal  in- 
stitutions— the  rudimentary  fimctions  of  a weU 
ordered  state.  People  unaccustomed  to  the  pro- 
tection of  law  feel  as  though  it  were  despotism. 
But  they  will  soon  find  that,  after  all,  good  govern- 
ment and  good  laws  are  the  safeguard  of  social 
well-being,  and  we  have  to  teach  in  Korea  as  well 
as  in  Formosa,  what  government  is  and  what  laws 
are. 

You  read  now  and  then  in  the  ne-wspapers  of 
arrests  in  Korea,  and  forthwith  Japan  is  charged 
with  being  a cruel  master.  Let  the  world  remem- 
ber that  a change  of  masters  is  rarely  made  without 
friction.  It  takes  some  time  for  a people  to  know 
that  a jural  state  means  enforcement  of  justice, 
and  that  this  does  not  imply  encroachment  upon 
personal  hberty,  which  under  the  old  regime 
Korean  courtiers  identified  with  royal  favom. 
Without  law,  no  real  hberty  is  conceivable,  and 
lawlessness  must  suffer  its  own  consequences. 

Then  the  third  point  is  the  protection  of  health. 
I have  spoken  to  you  of  what  we  have  done  in 
Formosa.  A similar  poHcy  will  be  pursued  in 
Korea.  In  an  interview  with  Prince  Ito  in  Seoul, 
when  I said  that  the  population  in  Korea  had  not 
increased  in  the  last  htmdred  years  and  that  per- 


Japan  as  Coloniser 


255 


haps  the  Korean  race  was  destined  to  disappear, 
he  replied:  “Well,  I am  not  sure.  I wish  to  see 
whether  good  laws  will  increase  the  fecundity  of 
the  Korean  people.” 

The  fourth  consideration  is  the  encouragement 
of  industries  and  means  of  communication.  In 
Formosa  we  have  seen  how  much  the  Government 
has  done  to  improve  the  quality  as  well  as  the 
quantity  of  rice,  salt,  camphor,  and  sugar.  Nearly 
all  the  improvements  in  these  industries  have 
been  initiated  or  suggested  by  the  Government. 
As  to  means  of  communication,  the  prefectures  vie 
with  each  other  in  building  new  roads  or  in  making 
old  ones  better. 

The  fifth  point  in  our  policy  is  that  of  educa- 
tion. In  Formosa  we  have  just  reached  the  stage 
where  we  are  taking  up  educational  problems  seri- 
ously. We  could  not  do  it  sooner,  because  our 
idea  was  first  of  all  to  give  to  our  new  fellow-sub- 
jects something  that  would  satisfy  their  hunger 
and  thirst ; their  bodies  had  to  be  nourished  before 
their  minds.  Now  that  economic  conditions  are 
so  much  better,  schools  are  being  started  in  all  the 
villages. 

These,  then,  are  some  of  the  broad  lines  of 
colonial  policy  which  we  have  practised  with  good 
results  in  Taiwan,  and  which  will  be  carried  out  in 
Chdsen.  In  writing  of  the  Japanese  rule  in  For- 
mosa, Mr.  MacKay,  the  British  consul  there,  con- 
cludes his  article  by  expressing  two  doubts:  one 
in  regard  to  the  commingling  of  races,  Japanese 


256  THe  Japanese  Nation 

and  Formosans;  the  other,  in  regard  to  the  Jap- 
anisation  of  the  Formosans.  He  seems  to  doubt 
whether  either  will  take  place.  As  far  as  the 
Japanese  are  concerned,  they  do  not  trouble 
themselves  about  these  questions,  any  more  than 
do  the  English  in  their  colonies.  I think  assimi- 
lation will  be  found  easier  in  Korea,  for  the  reason 
that  the  Korean  race  is  very  much  allied  to  our 
own.  In  Formosa,  assimilation  will  be  out  of  the 
question  for  long  years  to  come,  and  we  shall  not 
try  to  force  it.  We  put  no  pressure  upon  the 
people  to  effect  assimilation  or  Japanisation.  Our 
idea  is  to  provide  a Japanese  milieu,  so  to  speak, 
and  if  the  Formosans  adapt  themselves  to  our 
ways  of  their  own  accord,  well  and  good.  Social 
usages  must  not  be  laid  upon  an  unwilling  people. 
An  ancient  saying  has  it : “ He  who  flees  must  not  be 
pursued,  but  he  who  comes  must  not  be  repulsed.” 
If  the  Formosans  or  the  Koreans  approach  us  in 
customs  and  manners,  we  will  not  repulse  them. 
We  will  receive  them  wdth  open  arms  and  we 
will  hold  them  as  our  brothers;  but  if  they  do 
not  desire  to  adopt  our  way  of  living,  we  will  not 
pursue  them.  We  leave  their  customs  and  man- 
ners just  as  they  are  disposed  to  have  them,  as 
long  as  they  are  law-abiding.  Our  principle  is 
firmness  in  government  and  freedom  in  society. 
Firmness  in  government  is  something  which  they 
did  not  have  before,  and  that  is  what  we  offer  to 
them.  If  they  look  upon  it  as  they  used  to  look 
upon  court  intrigue  and  family  vendetta,  they 


Japan  as  Coloniser 


257 


must  leam  at  their  own  cost  what  modem  nomoc- 
racy means.  At  the  same  time,  Japan  must  know 
that  the  secret  of  colonial  success  is  justice  sea- 
soned with  mercy.  Shoiald  she  fail  to  recognise 
this  ancient  tmth,  she  will  but  add  another  illus- 
tration of  the  poet’s  words  cited  at  the  beginning 
of  this  chapter. 

19 


CHAPTER  X 


AMERICAN-JAPANESE  INTERCOURSE  PRIOR  TO  THE 
ADVENT  OF  PERRY 

WITH  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the 
trade  of  the  United  States  with  her  quon- 
dam mother-country  naturally  declined  without 
showing  any  appreciable  increase  in  commerce 
with  other  nations,  and  her  shipping  was  diverted 
from  accustomed  lines  on  accoimt  of  English 
navigation  laws.  Discouraging  commercial  con- 
ditions like  these,  aggravated  by  small  returns 
from  their  agricultural  pursuits,  turned  the  atten- 
tion of  the  New  England  people  to  adventures  in 
the  Far  East  very  early  in  the  history  of  this 
country.  Already  in  1784,  within  a year  after 
the  definitive  Treaty  of  Peace  w^as  signed,  a bark 
flying  the  flag  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes  made  a 
bold  cruise  into  Oriental  waters,  where  in  those 
days  the  Enghsh  Union  Jack  overawed  all  other 
national  ensigns.  As  the  bark  approached  the 
coast  of  China,  it  was  unexpectedly  hailed  by  two 
French  men-of-war,  and,  escorted  by  these,  entered 
the  port  of  Canton.  The  bark  carried  but  Httle 

258 


Relations  Prior  to  Perry 


259 


merchandise,  but  the  business  transacted  was 
exceedingly  lucrative.  Especially  were  furs  dis- 
posed of  at  a good  price.  Next  year  the  voyage 
was  repeated,  and  in  three  years  as  many  as  fifteen 
American  vessels  visited  this  port,  largely  with 
seal-skins,  otter  and  other  furs  from  the  South 
Seas  and  the  north-west  coast  of  this  continent. 
These  vessels  brought  a cargo  of  tea,  silks,  and 
other  Chinese  produce. 

In  those  days,  Japan  was  apparently  passed  over 
or  passed  by,  as  impossible  of  access.  It  is  true 
that  in  1797,  an  American  ship,  the  Eliza  of  New 
York,  Captain  Stewart,  made  a voyage  to  Naga- 
saki, This  was  perhaps  the  first  time  that  the 
American  flag  was  seen  in  our  waters.  The  Eliza 
repeated  her  voyages  for  several  years  following, 
but  on  no  occasion  except  the  last  did  she  come 
on  her  own  initiative.  She  \yas  hired  by  the 
Dutch  in  Batavia,  who,  afraid  of  the  English  navy 
in  the  Indian  seas  in  the  days  when  Holland  was 
under  Napoleon’s  rule,  dared  not  make  their  regu- 
lar visit  to  Japan.  When  Captain  Stewart  made 
his  last  voyage  in  1803,  he  attempted  to  open  trade 
on  his  own  responsibility,  but  was  not  successful. 

In  1798,  an  American  ship,  the  Franklyn,  Cap- 
tain James  Devereux,  made  its  way  to  Japan, 
saihng  under  Dutch  colours.  The  next  year  there 
came,  also  under  the  charter  of  the  East  India 
Company,  a Salem  ship.  Captain  John  Derby.  It 
is  recorded  that  these  men  came  and  left  their 
footprints  on  the  sands,  soon  to  be  washed  away, 


26o  TKe  Japanese  Nation 

however.  Individually  they  left  no  trace,  but 
they  counted  as  landmarks  in  the  development  of 
American -Japanese  intercourse;  for  not  a “black 
ship,”  as  a foreign  vessel  was  then  called,  was 
sighted,  without  being  watched  and  studied  and 
discussed — thus  contributing  a blow,  however 
slight,  to  the  final  overthrow  of  Exclusivism. 

As  the  China  trade  developed,  the  skippers  dis- 
covered the  new  importance  of  the  Hawaiian 
Islands,  known  on  their  charts  ever  since  the  time 
of  Captain  Cook  (1792).  Situated  in  mid-ocean, 
they  afforded  a most  convenient  stopping-place 
for  replenishing  the  supply  of  water,  for  making 
repairs,  and  for  avoiding  occasional  storms.  It 
was  not  long  before  they  foimd  that  sandal-wood, 
which  fetched  an  exorbitant  price  in  China,  grew 
in  abimdance  in  these  islands.  This  wood  gave  a 
fresh  impetus  to  Oriental  trade.  However,  com- 
merce founded  upon  sheer  exploitation  is  not 
guaranteed  a long  lease  of  life.  Fur-bearing  ani- 
mals decreased  year  by  year,  owing  to  the  ruth- 
lessness with  which  they  were  hunted.  The 
sandal-wood  forests  were  felled,  and  this  without 
scruple.  In  the  first  two  decades  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  the  foimdations  of  trade  with  China  were 
in  jeopardy,  and,  with  them,  American  interests 
in  the  Pacific. 

The  Pacific  coast  was  not  yet  connected  with 
the  Atlantic,  and  the  first  city  foimded  there, 
Astoria,  suffered  heavily  during  the  War  of  1812. 
The  American  merchant  marine  in  the  Pacific  also 


Relations  Prior  to  Perry 


261 


underwent  severe  loss,  together  with  the  navy, 
at  the  hand  of  the  Britishers.  Nevertheless, 
during  this  “War  of  Paradoxes,”  American  com- 
merce showed  a wonderful  power  of  growth, 
especially  in  the  New  England  States,  and  when 
peace  was  concluded  the  New  England  merchants 
sought  a new  field  of  investment.  What  their 
fathers  lost  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  and  on  the 
coast  of  Nevdoundland,  they  attempted  to  regain 
in  the  Pacific.  Fishing  had  been  practically  wiped 
out  during  the  Revolution ; but  in  the  first  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  whaling  became  a pro- 
fitable outlet  for  investment.  It  was  not  a new 
industry,  having  been  carried  on  prior  to  the  Revo- 
lution ; but  its  importance  grew  rapidly  after  the 
War  of  1812.  In  eager  pursuit  of  prey,  the  Ameri- 
can whalers  soon  rounded  Cape  Horn  and  their 
black  ships  coxdd  be  counted  by  scores — in  a few 
years  by  hundreds — between  the  Hawaiian  Islands 
and  Japan. 

As  yet,  however,  they  were  exposed  to  dangers 
of  manifold  kinds,  notably  to  the  depredations  of 
their  English  rivals  and  to  the  mercy  of  storms 
and  waves.  The  danger  resulting  from  the  latter 
source  could  not  well  be  avoided  unless  they  had 
friendly  havens,  but  such  there  was  none,  as  Japan, 
far  from  affording  shelter,  carried  the  logic  of 
exclusion  to  its  extreme  conclusion,  by  treating  as 
criminals  whomsoever  drifted  by  misfortune  to  her 
shores.  As  for  the  former  danger,  the  United 
States  had  despatched  a few  gunboats  to  cruise 


262  The  Japanese  Nation 

in  the  whaling  districts  for  the  protection  of 
her  citizens.  Commodore-  Porter  was  one  of  the 
officers  who  were  sent  out  for  this  purpose,  and  he 
could  recommend  no  better  means  of  security  to 
American  whalers  than  that  of  bringing  Japan  into 
amicable  relations  with  his  country.  To  this  end, 
he  addressed  a letter  to  Secretary  Monroe  in  1815. 
This  was  the  year  that  a squadron  under  Decatur 
was  sent  to  the  Mediterranean  and  a treaty  was 
signed  with  Algiers.  Why  shoffid  not  another 
squadron  be  sent  westward  to  Japan?  The  pro- 
posal seemed  about  to  be  put  into  effect,  and 
the  Commodore  was  to  be  sent  as  envoy,  with  a 
frigate  and  two  sloops  of  war.  In  the  meantime 
the  whaling  industry  made  steady  progress.  In 
1822,  as  many  as  twenty-four  whaling  vessels 
anchored  at  one  time  in  the  harbour  of  Honolulu. 
About  this  time,  not  only  on  the  seas,  but  also  on 
land,  the  United  States  was  expanding  with  great 
strides,  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  John  Quincy 
Adams  should  urge  that  it  was  the  duty  of  Chris- 
tian nations  to  open  Japan,  and  that  it  was  the 
duty  of  Japan  to  respond  to  the  demands  of  the 
world,  as  no  nation  had  a right  to  withhold  its 
quota  to  the  general  progress  of  mankind.  Still 
no  official  step  was  taken,  indeed  nothing  definite 
was  planned  until  1832 — under  his  successor, 
Andrew  Jackson — when  it  was  suggested  that  Mr. 
Edmund  Roberts  should  be  appointed  as  a special 
agent  to  negotiate  treaties  with  Oriental  courts. 
But  again  nothing  came  of  the  plan.  Mean- 


Relations  Prior  to  Perry  263 

while  interest  in  Japan  was  awakened  in  some  in- 
fluential quarters  and  for  unexpected  reasons. 

The  Black  Current,  the  Kuro-Shiwo,  flows  from 
the  tropics  along  the  eastern  coast  of  Japan,  and 
continues  to  flow  northward  beyond  the  limits  of 
that  Empire,  then  turns  in  a large  curve  and  joins 
with  a current  that  washes  the  western  shores  of 
America.  Many  a shipwrecked  sailor  and  fisher- 
man of  Japan  must,  in  the  course  of  centuries, 
have  drifted  on  these  currents  and  been  cast  ashore 
on  the  American  continent.  Mr.  Charles  Wolcott 
Brooks  enumerates  a large  number  of  well  authen- 
ticated cases  of  this  kind,  in  his  monograph  on 
Japanese  Wrecks,  Early  Maritime  Intercourse  of 
Ancient  Western  Nations,  as  well  as  in  his  pam- 
phlet on  the  Origin  of  the  Chinese  Race. 

Now  about  the  middle  of  the  third  decade  of  the 
last  century',  a band  of  fishermen  who  -were  wrecked 
on  our  coast  were  carried  away  by  the  Kuro-Shiwo 
and  were  picked  up  near  Astoria.  As  curious 
specimens  of  humanity,  they  were  cared  for,  and, 
after  being  sent  from  place  to  place  in  the  United 
States,  they  were  taken  to  Macao,  China,  where 
there  were  American  houses,  in  the  hope  that  they 
could  be  more  easily  shipped  from  there  back  to 
their  home.  An  American  merchant  residing 
here,  C.  W.  King  by  name,  saw  in  the  return  of 
these  men,  seven  altogether,  an  opportunity  to 
begin  negotiations  for  the  opening  of  trade  with 
Japan. 

Mr.  King  equipped  at  his  own  expense  a mer- 


264  The  Japanese  Nation 

chantman,  the  Morrison,  for  this  errand  of  mercy. 
To  avoid  every  possible  cause  for  suspicion,  he 
removed  all  guns  and  armament,  which  sailing- 
craft  of  all  descriptions  used  to  carry  at  that  time. 

To  further  emphasise  the  peaceful  character  of 
the  undertaking,  he  took  with  him  his  wife.  They 
were  accompanied  by  three  clergymen  who  have 
since  made  their  names  famous  in  the  history  of 
Christian  missions — Peter  Parker,  Charles  Gutz- 
laff,  and  S.  Wells  Williams.  Dr.  Williams  had 
learned  some  Japanese  from  the  shipwrecked  sail- 
ors who  were  to  be  sent  home  by  the  Morrison.  I 
may  mention  here  that  it  was  Dr.  WilUams  who 
was  the  chief  interpreter  during  subsequent  nego- 
tiations with  Perry.  Mr.  King  took  with  him  a 
number  of  presents — such  as  books,  instruments, 
etc.,  with  the  view  of  impressing  the  Japanese  with 
the  greatness  of  his  coimtry  and  of  the  triumphs 
of  Christian  civilisation.  While  the  preparations 
for  departure  were  being  made,  Dutch  traders 
brought  the  news  to  the  Japanese  authorities  that 
a "Morrison”  might  visit  their  harbours  at  any 
time.  Hereupon  forts  were  repaired,  cannons 
were  put  in  prime  order,  sentinels  were  multiplied 
at  all  the  main  points  of  defence  on  the  coast. 
Thus  by  the  time  the  Morrison  entered  the  Bay  of 
Yedo  in  1837  with  every  manifestation  of  good 
will,  she  was  so  mercilessly  fired  upon  that  she  had 
to  weigh  anchor  and  fiee.  She  attempted  landing 
a few  days  later  in  the  southern  port  of  Kagoshima, 
but  here,  too,  she  received  no  more  hospitable 


Relations  Prior  to  Perry 


265 


reception.  For  all  his  good  intentions,  Mr.  King 
reaped  nothing  but  hostile  feeling.  As  Dr.  Will- 
iams writes:  “ Commercially  speaking,  the  voyage 
cost  about  $2000  without  any  retirms;  and  the 
immediate  effects,  in  a missionary  or  scientific  way, 
were  nil.” 

For  the  students  of  Japanese  history  of  this 
period,  unusual  interest  and  pathos  are  attached 
to  this  voyage  of  Mr.  King’s.  For,  in  the  thirties 
or  forties  of  the  last  century,  while  Japan  was  still 
under  the  strictest  regime  of  seclusion,  there  was 
working  in  certain  small  circles  a powerful  leaven 
of  Western  knowledge,  which  was  soon  to  leaven 
the  whole  Empire.  Among  the  pioneers  of  Euro- 
pean ctdture  may  here  be  mentioned  two  of  the 
most  prominent — Noboru  Watanabe  and  Choyei 
Takano.  They  were  tireless  in  gathering  informa- 
tion about  the  West  and  in  their  effort  to  convince 
the  authorities  of  the  futility  and  folly  of  exclusion. 

A few  months  after  the  unhappy  episode  of 
King’s  enterprise  had  transpired,  the  rumour 
reached  the  ears  of  Watanabe  and  Takano  that  a 
“Morrison”  was  coming  to  Japan,  whereupon  the 
latter  published  a booklet  entitled  The  Story  of  a 
Dream.  This  zealous  exponent  of  Western  learn- 
ing was  naturally  opposed  to  the  policy  of  resort- 
ing to  force,  should  a “black  ship”  approach  our 
dominion.  In  his  pamphlet  he  ridiculed  the  idea 
of  defending  our  territory  against  a foreign  navy 
by  relying  upon  old-fashioned  rifles  and  wooden 
barracks  and  cotton  curtains.  He  grows  still 


266  TKe  Japanese  Nation 

more  sarcastic  when  he  exposes,  as  he  thinks,  the 
utter  ignorance  of  the  authorities  about  things 
Western.  ‘ ‘ The  idea  of  taking  the  name  of  Morri- 
son for  that  of  a ship  is  simply  abstud.  Why,  it 
is  the  name  of  a man,  a great  scholar,  who  is  well 
versed  in  Oriental  lore,  familiar  with  aU  the  classics 
of  China.  Should  a man  of  his  eminence  honour 
our  land  with  a visit,  we  should  receive  him  with 
due  respect  and  hospitality.  ’ ’ Takano  was  himself 
mistaken  as  to  the  bearer  of  the  name  Morrison. 
He  was  thinking  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Morrison, 
who,  however,  had  been  dead  since  1834.  Such 
an  error  on  the  part  of  so  well-meaning  and  pro- 
gressive a student  of  Occidental  affairs  is  in  itself 
touching ; but  the  cHmax  of  pathos  is  reached  when 
for  his  Story  of  a Dream  he  w’as  sentenced  to  per- 
petual imprisonment,  and  though  he  fled  from 
the  execution  of  the  law  for  a little  while,  hiding 
himself  or  wandering  about  imder  different 
assumed  names,  so  closely  was  he  pursued  that, 
in  order  to  escape  an  ignominious  death,  he  put 
an  end  to  himself.  His  colleague,  Watanabe,  a 
great  scholar  as  well  as  painter,  whose  w^orks 
adorn  the  literature  and  art  of  our  nation,  did  not 
fare  much  better. 

To  return  to  the  Morrison,  Mr.  King,  upon  com- 
ing back  from  the  fruitless  expedition,  made  public 
his  experience  and  his  reflections  on  it  in  a book. 
The  Claims  of  Malayasia  or  the  Voyage  of  the 
'‘Morrison,"  the  first  book  published  in  America 
on  Japan.  In  the  most  earnest  tone,  he  appeals 


Relations  Prior  to  Perry  267 

to  “the  champions  of  his  country’s  benevolence,” 
not  to  despair  about  opening  the  sealed  portals  of 
Japan.  He  argues  that  Great  Britain  and  America 
divide  the  maritime  influence  of  the  world,  and 
that  “America  is  the  hope  of  Asia  beyond  the 
Malay  Peninsula,  that  her  noblest  effort  will  And 
a becoming  theatre  there.”  He  tells  his  country- 
men “that  Japan  will  more  readily  yield  to  and 
repay  their  efforts,  and  that  China  can  be  more 
easily  reached  through  Japan.”  He  calls  upon 
all  the  best  instincts  of  the  American  public — its 
Christian  sympathies,  its  commercial  interests,  its 
reimblican  glories — to  exert  themselves  in  this 
heaven-appointed  task  lying  before  it. 

Mr.  King’s  appeal  was  evidently  little  heeded. 
American  interests  in  the  Pacific  were  not  ap- 
preciated enough  to  call  forth  response  from 
the  Government  or  the  people.  Meanwhile  Ameri- 
can trade  with  China  was  increasing  and  the 
whaling  industry  was  constantly  assuming  greater 
magnitude. 

In  1839,  out  of  some  555  American  ships  engaged 
in  whale-fishery,  the  overwhelming  majority 
cruised  in  the  Pacific.  Professor  Coolidge  says 
that  in  1845,  according  to  the  local  records,  497 
whalers,  manned  by  14,905  sailors,  visited  the 
Hawaiian  Islands,  and  of  the  total,  three-fourths 
flew  the  flag  of  the  United  States.  Two  years 
later,  the  number  of  vessels  rose  to  729,  and  the 
capital  invested  in  the  enterprise  was  calculated 
at  $20,000,000.  By  1848,  the  New  Bedford  men 


268  THe  Japanese  Nation 

passed  through  Behring  Straits  into  the  Arctic 
Ocean,  and  of  the  whole  American  fleet,  no  less 
than  278  were  in  North  Pacific  waters. 

It  was  chiefly  in  the  interest  of  whaling  that 
the  Hon.  Zadoc  Pratt  of  PrattsviUe,  Orange 
County,  N.  Y.,  member  of  Congress  and  chairman 
of  the  Select  Committee  on  Statistics,  laid  before 
the  House  a report,  in  1845,  concerning  the  advisa- 
bility of  taking  prompt  action  by  sending  an 
embassy  to  Japan  and  Korea.  The  next  year. 
Commodore  Biddle  was  appointed  to  head  an  ex- 
pedition and  embark  with  a fleet  consisting  of  the 
Columbus  and  the  Vincennes.  He  was  provided 
with  a letter  from  President  Polk  to  the  Emperor 
of  Japan.  The  object  of  this  expedition  was  to 
ascertain  whether  the  ports  of  Japan  were  acces- 
sible. The  Commodore  arrived  safe  and  well  in 
the  Bay  of  Yedo,  and  opened  commtmications 
which  continued  for  ten  tedious  days,  at  the  end 
of  which,  on  receipt  of  the  following  anonymous 
note,  he  left. 

The  object  of  this  communication  is  to  explain  the 
reasons  why  we  refuse  to  trade  with  foreigners  who 
come  to  this  country  across  the  ocean  for  that  purpose. 

This  has  been  the  habit  of  our  nation  from  time 
immemorial.  In  all  cases  of  a similar  kind  that  have 
occurred,  we  have  positively  refused  to  trade.  For- 
eigners have  come  to  us  from  various  quarters,  but 
have  always  been  received  in  the  same  way.  In 
taking  this  course  with  regard  to  you,  we  only  pursue 
our  accustomed  policy.  We  can  make  no  distinction 


Relations  Prior  to  Perry 


269 


between  different  foreign  nations — we  treat  them  all 
alike;  and  you,  as  Americans,  must  receive  the  same 
answer  with  the  rest.  It  will  be  of  no  use  to  renew 
the  attempt,  as  all  applications  of  the  kind,  however 
numerous  they  may  be,  will  be  steadily  rejected. 

We  are  aware  that  our  customs  are  in  this  respect 
different  from  those  of  some  other  countries,  but  every 
nation  has  a right  to  manage  its  affairs  in  its  own  way. 

The  trade  carried  on  with  the  Dutch  at  Nagasaki 
is  not  to  be  regarded  as  furnishing  a precedent  for 
trade  with  other  foreign  nations.  The  place  is  one  of 
few  inhabitants  and  very  little  business  is  transacted, 
and  the  whole  affair  is  of  no  importance. 

In  conclusion,  we  have  to  say  that  the  Emperor 
positively  refuses  the  permission  you  desire.  He  earn- 
estly advises  you  to  depart  immediately,  and  to  consult 
your  own  safety  by  not  appearing  again  upon  our  coast. 


Commodore  Biddle’s  mission  was  worse  than  a 
mere  failure.  It  had  the  effect  of  lowering  the 
dignity  of  his  country  in  the  mind  of  the  Oriental. 
The  defiant  and  haughty  tone  running  through 
the  foregoing  note  was,  I dare  say,  the  result  of 
his  having  accepted  insult  without  strong  demon- 
stration. It  may  be,  he  meant  only  to  be  cautious 
and  courteous,  and  that  his  caution  and  courtesy 
were  sadly  misconstrued.  I refer  to  an  unpleasant 
incident  which  occurred  during  his  interview  with 
certain  Japanese  officers.  He  describes  it  as 
follows:  “I  went  alongside  the  junk  in  the  ship’s 
boat,  in  my  uniform;  at  the  moment  that  I was 
stepping  on  board,  a Japanese  on  the  deck  of  the 


270  The  Japanese  Nation 

junk,  gave  me  a blow  or  push,  which  threw  me 
back  into  the  boat.”  He  says  that  the  conduct  of 
the  man  was  inexplicable ; but  after  assurance  had 
been  obtained  from  the  officials  that  the  man 
would  be  severely  pimished,  nothing  further  was 
asked  or  demanded  by  the  Commodore.  A 
stronger  attitude  on  his  part  might  have  ended 
in  his  reaping  the  glory  of  opening  Japan,  or,  at 
least,  in  relieving  the  sufferings  of  many  of  his 
coxmtrymen;  because,  with  the  growth  of  whaling 
in  Japanese  waters,  the  ship- wrecked  sailors  and 
deserters  landing  on  our  coast  increased  in  num- 
ber. Only  two  months  before  Commodore  Biddle 
appeared,  the  Lawrence,  under  Captain  Baker,  who 
had  sailed  from  Poughkeepsie  the  previous  sum- 
mer, was  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  one  of  the  Kurile 
Islands.  Seven  of  the  crew  survived.  At  first 
they  were  treated  kindly,  but  no  sooner  had  their 
presence  been  reported  to  the  authorities  than 
they  were  placed  in  close  confinement,  subject  to 
privation  and  ill-treatment  which  lasted  for  seven- 
teen months,  so  that  all  the  while  that  Biddle  was 
negotiating  in  the  Bay  of  Yedo  these  poor  crea- 
tures were  in  dire  distress.  They  were  finally 
liberated  and  sent  to  Batavia  by  a Dutch  ship. 

Two  years  later,  the  crew  of  another  whaler, 
the  Ladoga,  on  account  of  bad  treatment,  deserted 
the  ship  in  five  boats,  t-wo  of  which  were  soon 
swamped.  The  surviving  three  parties,  consisting 
of  fifteen  men — nine  of  whom  were  Sandwich 
Islanders — drifted  upon  an  islet  near  the  town  of 


Relations  Prior  to  Perry 


271 


Matsumae  (now  Fukushima) . Suspected  of  being 
spies,  they  were  put  in  jail  in  Matsumee  and  after- 
ward in  Nagasaki.  Their  repeated  attempts  to 
break  away  from  the  prison  only  seemed  to  con- 
firm the  Japanese  in  their  suspicion,  and  the  rigours 
of  confinement  were  doubled.  One  Maury,  a 
Hawaiian,  hung  himself  in  the  prison;  Ezra  Gold- 
thwait  died  of  disease,  or,  as  was  charged,  of 
medicine  prescribed  by  a quack.  Suffering  from 
brutal  treatment  one  day,  “on  being  taken  out  of 
our  stocks,’’  so  narrates  one  of  the  prisoners,  “we 
told  the  Japanese  guards  that  their  cruelty  to  us 
would  be  told  the  Americans,  who  would  come 
here  and  take  vengeance  on  them.  Our  guards 
replied,  sneeringly,  that  they  knew  better,  and 
that  the  Americans  did  not  care  how  poor  sailors 
were  treated;  if  they  did,  then  they  should  have 
come  and  punished  the  Japanese  at  Yedo,  when 
a Japanese  had  insulted  an  American  Chief.’’ 
The  last  allusion  was  to  the  incident  which  we  have 
already  related  concerning  Commodore  Biddle. 

With  nothing  to  break  the  monotony  of  their 
irksome  captivity,  except  growls  and  threats  from 
the  guards,  the  poor  sailors  of  the  Ladoga  were  on 
the  verge  of  despair,  when  one  evening  the  report 
of  a distant  gun,  a sure  signal  of  the  approach  of  a 
foreign  ship,  reached  their  ears.  A foreign  ship 
it  was.  James  Clynn,  Commander  of  the  U.  S. 
Ship  Preble,  was  dispatched  by  Commodore  D. 
Ceisinger  upon  the  advice  of  John  W.  Davis,  U.  S. 
Commissioner  to  China,  to  whom  the  news  of  the 


272  The  Japanese  Nation 

captivity  of  the  Ladoga's  crew  had  been  communi- 
cated by  J.  H.  Levyssohn,  Superintendent  of 
Dutch  trade  in  Deshima.  The  Prehle  entered  the 
harbour  of  Nagasaki  on  the  17th  of  April,  1849, 
After  a week’s  conference,  it  was  arranged  that 
the  ship-wrecked  mariners,  who  had  been  suffering 
so  long  from  the  effect  of  their  misfortune,  should 
be  delivered  up  immediately.  Accordingly,  on 
the  26th,  they  were  all  carried  to  the  town-house, 
where,  for  the  first  time,  they  imexpectedly  met 
another  of  their  countrymen,  McDonald,  who  had 
been  lodged  in  another  part  of  the  town.  They 
were  all  taken  away  by  Commander  Glynn. 

The  story  of  the  above-mentioned  Ronald 
McDonald  is  so  unique  as  to  be  w’orthy  of  further 
notice.  His  life  and  character-sketch  have  been 
penned  by  a number  of  writers.  (R.  E.  Lewis, 
Educational  Conquest  of  the  Far  East,  1903;  also 
Mrs.  Eva  Emery  Dye,  McDonald  of  Oregon,  1906.) 
Bom  in  Astoria,  Oregon,  this  son  of  a Chinook 
princess  and  a Scotch  employe  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company  had  in  his  childhood  probably  heard 
the  country  of  Japan  frequently  mentioned,  or 
had  in  all  likelihood  seen  the  Japanese  who  in  1831 
were  drifted  ashore  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia 
River.  In  1845,  when  in  his  twenties,  he  shipped 
at  Sag  Harbour  in  a whale-boat,  the  Plymouth.  He 
made  an  arrangement  with  the  captain  that,  when 
they  neared  the  coast  of  Japan,  he  should  be  left 
alone  in  a small  boat,  so  contrived  that  he  could 
capsize  it  himself.  It  was  his  intention  to  cast 


Relations  Prior  to  Perry 


273 


himself  ashore  and  obtain  some  knowledge  of  the 
land  and  the  people  of  this  terra  incognita.  He 
was  accordingly  set  adrift,  and  coasted  along  the 
shore  for  a day  or  two,  when  he  discerned  some 
fishermen  at  a distance.  He  beckoned  to  them, 
and,  as  they  approached,  he  jumped  into  their 
boat  and  landed  with  them  about  twenty-five 
miles  from  Soya  in  Hokkaido,  During  the  eight 
days  that  he  remained  imder  the  roof  of  the  fisher- 
men, he  was  treated  most  kindly;  but  the  good 
people,  fearing  that  they  were  disloyal  to  the  law 
in  harbouring  a foreigner,  notified  an  officer  of  his 
presence,  and,  when  he  came,  poor  McDonald  was 
taken  to  Matsumae  and  afterwards  transferred  to 
Nagasaki,  In  each  of  these  places,  he  received 
reasonable  attention.  Lodging  was  provided  for 
him  in  a temple,  and,  though  narrow'ly  watched, 
he  was  not  treated  like  a prisoner  but  was  allowed 
to  occupy  himself  in  teaching  English. 

The  very  year  (1848)  that  the  crew  of  the  Ladoga 
w^ere  w'recked  and  McDonald  of  the  Plymouth 
succeeded  in  landing  (both  of  these  ships  were  on 
whaling  voyages),  three  American  sailors  belong- 
ing to  another  w'haler — the  Trident — were  wrecked 
on  one  of  the  Kurile  Islands.  They,  together  with 
some  twenty-seven  English  seamen  who  had  also 
been  wrecked  wEile  out  whaling,  were  returned 
home  through  the  Dutch  factory. 

That  the  narrow  cleft  in  the  sealed  door  of 
Japan,  into  which  Perry  drove  his  wedge  of  diplo- 
macy, was  the  rescue  of  American  whalers,  Mr. 

18 


274  THe  Japanese  Nation 

Fillmore  implies  in  his  address  before  the  Buffalo 
Historical  Society:  “The  proceedings  which  re- 
sulted in  the  opening  of  Japan  sprang  from  a 
wrong  perpetrated  by  that  nation  and  which,  like 
many  other  wrongs,  seems  to  have  resulted  in  a 
great  good.” 

There  were  causes  other  than  the  mere  safety  of 
whalers  which  led  to  the  inception  of  the  American 
expedition  to  Japan,  On  the  one  hand,  the  rise 
of  industrial  and  commercial  commonwealths  on 
the  Pacific,  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  the 
increasing  trade  with  China,  the  development  of 
steam  navigation — necessitating  coal  depots  and 
ports  for  shelter, — the  opening  of  highways  across 
the  isthmus  of  Central  America,  the  missionary 
enterprises  on  the  Asiatic  continent,  the  rise  of  the 
Hawaiian  Islands;  on  the  other  hand,  the  awaken- 
ing knowledge  of  foreign  nations  among  the  ruling 
class  in  Japan,  the  news  of  the  British  victory  in 
China,  the  growth  of  European  settlements  in  the 
Pacific,  the  dissemination  of  Western  science  among 
a progressive  class  of  scholars,  the  advice  from  the 
Dutch  Government  to  discontinue  the  antiquated 
policy  of  exclusion — all  these  testified  that  the 
fulness  of  time  was  at  hand  for  Japan  to  turn  a new 
page  in  her  history. 

Intelligent  interest  was  now  aroused  on  this  side 
of  the  Pacific  in  the  question  of  opening  Japan. 
We  must  remember  that  the  middle  of  the  last 
century  was  the  era  of  American  clippers.  In 
the  year  1848,  Robert  J.  Walker,  then  Secretary 


Relations  Prior  to  Perry 


275 


of  the  Treasury,  called  public  attention  to  “Japan, 
highly  advanced  in  civilisation,  containing  fifty 
millions  of  people,  separated  but  two  weeks  by 
steam  from  our  western  coast.  ...  Its  com- 
merce,” he  continues,  “can  be  secured  to  us  by 
persevering  and  peaceful  efforts.” 

During  the  next  year,  Aaron  Haight  Palmer  of 
New  York,  who  accumiilated  what  was  at  that  time 
a vast  amoimt  of  information  respecting  Oriental 
nations,  in  his  capacity  as  Director  of  the  American 
and  Foreign  Agency  of  New  York  (1830-47),  saw 
the  great  necessity  of  establishing  commercial  re- 
lations with  the  East,  and  sent  memorials  upon 
the  subject  to  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of 
State.  He  was  backed  by  memorials  from  the 
principal  merchants  of  New  York  and  Baltimore. 
In  his  letter  to  Secretary'  Clayton,  on  the  plan  of 
opening  Japan,  he  recommends  four  measures  to 
be  followed:  (i)  to  demand  full  and  ample  indem- 
nity for  the  ship-wrecked  American  seamen  who 
had  been  unjustly  treated;  (2)  to  insist  upon  the 
proper  care  for  any  American  w'ho  might  from  any 
misfortune  repair  to  the  coast  of  Japan:  (3)  to 
enforce  the  opening  of  ports  for  commerce  and  for 
the  establishment  of  consulates;  (4)  to  claim  the 
privilege  of  estabhshing  coaling  stations,  and  also 
the  right  of  whaling  without  molestation.  Mr. 
Palmer  says  that,  in  the  event  of  non-compliance 
with  the  above  on  the  part  of  the  Shogun,  a strict 
blockade  of  Yedo  Bay  should  be  established. 

James  Glynn,  who  had  for  two  years  been 


276  TKe  Japanese  Nation 

cruising  about  the  North  Pacific  Ocean,  and  who, 
as  we  have  seen,  had  had  opportunity  to  learn 
something  of  the  Japanese  people,  wanting  in  1851 
of  the  prospect  of  Chinese  trade,  speaks  of  the 
absolute  necessity  for  a coal  depot  on  the  coast  of 
Japan;  and  in  his  letter  expresses  a strong  belief  in 
the  possibility  of  seeming  such  a depot  by  proper 
negotiation,  and  of  eventually  opening  the  whole 
Empire. 

About  this  time  a newspaper  article  concerning 
some  Japanese  waifs  who  had  been  picked  up  at 
sea  by  the  bark  Auckland,  Captain  Jennings,  and 
brought  to  San  Francisco,  attracted  the  attention 
of  Commodore  Aulick.  He  submitted  a proposal 
to  the  Government  that  it  should  take  advantage 
of  this  incident  to  open  commercial  relations 
with  the  Empire,  or  at  least  to  manifest  the 
friendly  feelings  of  this  coimtry.  This  proposal 
was  made  on  the  ninth  of  May,  1851.  Daniel 
Webster  was  then  Secretary  of  State,  and  in  him 
Aulick  found  a ready  friend.  The  opinions  of 
Commander  Glynn  and  Mr.  Palmer  as  authorities 
on  questions  connected  with  Japan,  w^ere  asked. 
Their  letters  on  this  occasion  evince  keen  diplo- 
matic sagacity. 

Clothed  with  full  power  to  negotiate  and  sign 
treaties,  and  furnished  with  a letter  from  President 
Fillmore  to  the  Emperor,  Commodore  Auhek  was 
on  the  eve  of  departure  when,  for  some  reason,  he 
was  prevented.  Thus  the  project  which  was  set  on 
foot  at  his  suggestion  was  obstructed  just  as  it  was 


Relations  Prior  to  Perry 


277 


about  to  be  accomplished  and  another  man, 
perhaps  better  fitted  for  the  undertaking,  entered 
into  his  labours. 

But  by  relating  the  achievement  of  Perry,  I 
shall  trespass  beyond  the  limit  I have  set  to  this 
narrative,  which  is  to  concern  itself  with  American- 
Japanese  intercourse  prior  to  Perry’s  advent. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  RELATIONS  BETWEEN  THE  UNITED  STATES 
AND  JAPAN 

The  well-known  French  historian  Michelet, 
speaking  of  great  geographical  explorations 
and  discoveries,  ends  one  of  his  perorations  with 
these  words: 

“ Who  opened  to  men  the  great  distant  navigation? 
Who  revealed  the  great  ocean  and  marked  out  its 
zones  and  its  liquid  highways?  Who  discovered  the 
secrets  of  the  globe?”  And  he  answers:  “The  whale 
and  the  whaler.  ...  It  was  the  whale  that  emanci- 
pated the  fishermen  and  led  them  afar.  It  led  them 
onward  and  onward  still,  until  they  found  it,  after 
having  almost  unconsciously  passed  from  one  world 
to  the  other.” 

President  Fillmore,  in  whose  administration 
Commodore  Perry  was  dispatched  to  Japan,  con- 
firms this  rhetorical  statement  of  Michelet’s. 

Let  me  briefly  recapitrdate  the  events  that  led 
up  to  the  oft-repeated  story  of  Perry’s  expedition. 
That  whaling  was  a great  industry  during  a 
278 


America  and  Japan 


279 


substantial  portion  of  the  last  two  centuries, 
especially  among  the  New  England  people,  is  well 
known.  Then  again,  those  who  were  unfortunate 
enough  to  be  wrecked  had  no  hospitable  shores 
upon  which  to  land. 

To  succour  the  whalers  and  to  help  and  protect 
their  industry,  was  the  main  motive  of  the  United 
States  Government  in  initiating  an  expedition  to 
Japan.  Before  any  official  step  was  taken  in  this 
direction,  some  private  American  citizens  had 
visited  Japan  in  the  service  of  the  Dutch  East 
India  Company.  The  first  suggestion  of  sending 
an  official  envoy  emanated  from  Commodore 
Porter,  but  without  tangible  result.  When,  in 
1846,  Commodore  Biddle  was  accredited  by  Presi- 
dent Polk  to  the  Shogunal  Court  at  Yedo,  to  as- 
certain how  far  her  ports  were  accessible, — the 
interest  in  Japan  obviously  marked  an  advance 
from  talk  among  whalers  to  grave  counsel  in 
Washington.  The  acquisition  of  California,  its 
sudden  development  upon  the  discovery  of  gold, 
and  the  constantly  increasing  trade  with  China, 
almost  eclipsed  the  importance  of  the  whaling  in- 
dustry, but  brought  into  prominence  the  need 
of  opening  up  intercourse  with  our  country. 

Five  years  elapsed  before  any  definite  plan  was 
formulated.  In  1851,  as  we  have  seen.  Commo- 
dore Matthew  Galbraith  Perry  was  appointed  to 
undertake  the  mission.  He  was  the  younger 
brother  of  the  more  celebrated  Admiral  Perry, 
the  hero  of  the  Lake  War  of  1812. 


28o  TKe  Japanese  Nation 

I have  often  wished  and  tried  to  find  where 
“public  opinion”  stood  when  the  United  States 
Government  decided  to  send  forth  Perry’s  expe- 
dition. A Washington  correspondent  writes  in  a 
Philadelphia  paper:  “There  is  no  money  in  the 

treasury  for  the  conquest  [mark  the  term,  if  you 
please]  of  the  Japanese  Empire,  and  the  adminis- 
tration will  hardly  be  disposed  to  pursue  such  a 
romantic  notion.”  Only  two  days  before  the 
expedition  sailed,  the  Baltimore  Sun  correspond- 
ent wrote  from  Washington:  “It  will  sail  about 
the  same  tirrie  with  Rufus  Porter’s  aerial  ship,” 
and  even  after  it  had  sailed,  he  advises  “aban- 
doning this  humbug,  for  it  has  become  a matter 
of  ridicule  abroad  and  at  home.” 

Not  less  sarcastic  are  the  English  comments. 
The  London  Times  doubts  “whether  the  Emperor 
of  Japan  would  receive  Commodore  Perry  with 
most  indignation  or  most  contempt,”  and  om- 
niscient Punch  insisted  that  “Perry  must  open 
the  Japanese  ports,  even  if  he  has  to  open  his 
own.”  “For  ourselves,”  says  the  London  Sun, 
“ we  look  forv^ard  to  that  result  with  some  such 
interest  as  we  might  suppose  would  be  awakened 
among  the  generality,  were  a balloon  to  soar  off  to 
one  of  the  planets  under  the  direction  of  some 
experienced  aeronaut.”  Another  London  con- 
temporary “cannot  agree  with  an  American 
journalist  in  thinking  such  a small  force  (two 
thousand  men)  will  be  sufficient  to  coerce  a vain, 
ignorant,  semi-barbarous,  and  sanguinary  nation  of 


America  and  Japan 


281 


thirty  millions  of  people.”  In  his  queer  and 
quaint  Almanac  for  1852,  the  so-called  Prophet 
Zadkiel  notes:  “A  total  eclipse  of  the  Sun,  visible 
chiefly  in  the  eastern  and  northern  parts  of  Asia. 
The  greatest  eclipse  at  3 h.  24  m.  A.M.,  December 
nth,  Greenwich  time.  ...  It  will  produce  great 
mortality  among  camels  and  horses  in  the  East, 
also  much  fighting  and  warlike  doings,  and  I judge 
that  it  will  carry  war  into  the  peaceful  vales  of 
Japan,  for  there,  too,  do  the  men  of  the  West  follow 
the  track  of  gain,  seeking  the  bubble  reputation, 
even  in  the  cannon’s  mouth.” 

Looking  through  a number  of  newspapers  and 
periodicals  of  the  time,  I am  struck  with  the 
absence  of  public  sympathy  concerning  an  enter- 
prise of  which  the  United  States  can  so  nobly  and 
so  justly  boast. 

If  history  is  philosophy  teaching  by  example, 
certainly  examples  were  not  lacking  to  show  that 
the  newspaper  fear  of  cqnquest  or  war  did  not 
materialise — and  may  we  not  compare  Zadkiel’s 
prophecy  with  a recent  pamphlet  by  one  Johndro 
of  Rochester  (which  I mentioned  in  a former 
chapter)  purporting  to  be  an  astrological  evidence 
of  war  with  Japan,  and  which  commands  om*  re- 
spect for  its  copious  illustrations  and  diagrams, 
but  above  all  for  the  profuse  use  of  capital  letters! 

For  some  of  us,  histoiy"  has  written  more  clearly 
than  the  stars  that  Perry’s  mission  w^as  conceived 
in  peace  and  concluded  in  peace.  When  I say 
this,  I mean  peace  between  the  two  nations 


282 


THe  Japanese  Nation 


concerned.  In  another  sense,  peace  there  was  none. 
When  the  treaty  of  peace  was  signed,  there  was 
great  excitement  throughout  oirr  country,  followed 
by  the  assassination  of  those  who  took  a respon- 
sible part  in  the  negotiations,  and,  later  on,  by 
civil  war. 

On  the  part  of  America,  Perry’s  treaty  brought 
no  satisfaction.  Naval  officers  laughed  at  his 
haughty  demeanour  during  the  negotiations ; com- 
mercial men  complained  that  trade  did  not  develop 
at  once.  And  no  wonder,  when  we  read  that,  as 
early  as  1852,  a direct  annual  trade  of  two  hundred 
million  dollars  was  expected, — an  amount  which  is 
six  times  the  sum  which  America  exports  to  Japan 
at  present ! 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  treaty  made  by 
Perry  was  not  a commercial  agreement.  The 
main  object  at  which  he  aimed  w'as  the  establish- 
ment of  a coaling  station.  The  consummation  of 
a commercial  treaty  was  reserved  for  a man  who 
was  sent  out  to  put  into  effect  the  articles  proposed 
by  Perry.  This  country  is  to  be  congratulated 
upon  having  sent  the  right  men  to  Japan.  Seldom 
have  your  representatives  been  good  diplomats,  if 
we  confine  the  calling  of  diplomats  to  Wotton’s 
definition  of  them  as  “honest  men  sent  out  to  other 
countries  to  tell  lies.’’  They  were  greater  as  men 
than  as  diplomats,  if  Wotton’s  definition  be  ac- 
cepted. Townsend  Harris  in  particular  was  a man 
of  whom  this  country  may  well  be  proud.  A man 
of  sterling  qualities,  of  honesty  of  purpose,  and 


America  and  Japan  283 

withal  of  kindly  disposition,  he  proved  himself  the 
best  friend,  adviser  and  teacher  of  Japan,  in  the 
early  and  stormy  days  of  her  foreign  intercourse. 

During  the  period  immediately  following  the 
opening  of  the  country  to  foreign  trade,  the  rise 
in  prices  was  tremendous.  In  two  years,  some 
things  rose  three  hundred  per  cent.  Gold,  which 
used  to  be  exchanged  for  four  times  its  weight  in 
silver,  suddenly  rose  to  eight,  ten,  sixteen  times 
its  former  value.  Naturally,  only  people  greedy 
of  sudden  gain  flocked  to  the  ports;  respectable 
houses  even  refused  the  request  of  the  Government 
to  deal  with  foreign  merchants.  Such  a state  of 
affairs  did  not  tend  to  convince  the  Japanese 
nation  of  the  blessings  of  Western  civilisation— 
especially  as  many  of  the  foreign  representatives 
behaved  in  a way  quite  at  variance  with  our  ideas 
of  justice  or  good-will.  But,  through  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  anti-foreign  demonstration,  Town- 
send Harris  stood  an  unwavering  friend  to  Japan. 

At  one  time,  when  all  his  diplomatic  colleagues 
left  Tokyo  (then  Yedo),  being  warned  by  our 
authorities  of  plots  of  assassination  and  incen- 
diarism, Townsend  Harris  alone  remained,  and 
without  a single  American  guard  at  that,  placing 
his  reliance  upon  only  a few  Japanese  sentinels. 
When  his  own  secretary  was  killed  on  the  street 
and  he  was  requested  not  to  go  out  of  his  house, 
he  paced  the  wooden  verandah  where  he  took 
e.xercise  until  it  was  worn  by  his  steps. 

It  was  during  this  anti-foreign  period  (1862-64) 


284  XKe  Japanese  Nation 

that  the  feudal  lord  of  Choshiu  fired  upon  an 
American  steamer  that  passed  through  the  strait 
of  Shimonoseki,  which  was  within  his  province. 
Later  on,  a French  and  a Dutch  man-of-war  were 
similarly  treated.  Then  naturally  followed  an 
alliance  of  these  Powers  to  bombard  the  town. 
The  Lord  of  Choshiu  was  badly  beaten.  All  this 
ended  in  Japan’s  paying  an  indemnity  of  three 
million  dollars.  The  share  for  the  United  States 
was  nearly  eight  htmdred  thousand  dollars.  This 
sum  was  about  forty  times  greater  than  the  dam- 
ages which  she  sustained,  which  really  amoimted  to 
some  twenty  thousand  dollars.  One  might  think 
this  transaction  was  a profitable  bargain.  So  far 
the  dealing  does  not  seem  fair;  but  there  is  a sequel 
to  the  story.  A few  years  later,  educators  in  this 
country  began  to  agitate  for  the  return  of  this 
sum  to  Japan.  Men  like  Dr.  Northrop  of  Yale 
wrote,  lectured,  and  preached  regarding  this  course. 
Men  like  Secretary  Seward  warmly  approved  of  it, 
and  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  reported  that  the  remittance  of 
this  indemnity  would  result  in  the  establishment 
of  more  intimate  relations  between  the  two  coun- 
tries and  would  ultimately  prove  of  great  benefit. 

If  you  ask  me  how  this  money  was  spent  when 
it  came  back  to  us,  I assure  you  that  it  was  not  all 
blown  off  in  the  form  of  gunpowder.  “Cast  thy 
bread  upon  the  waters  and  thou  shalt  find  it  after 
many  days.”  If  you  visit  our  cotmtry,  the  first 
port  at  which  you  anchor  is  the  exposed  harbour 


America  and  Japan  285 

of  Yokohama,  and,  as  you  begin  to  wonder  how  a 
ship  can  anchor  there,  you  will  notice  a long  stretch 
of  breakwater,  within  which  you  will  soon  find  a 
haven  of  safety.  After  long  deliberation,  it  was 
decided  by  our  people  that  the  money  you  returned 
to  us  should  be  expended  in  some  work  that  would 
perpetuate  in  lasting,  useful,  and  visible  form  the 
good-will  of  this  country,  and  to  this  end,  the 
breakwater  in  the  harbour  of  Yokohama  testifies. 

The  spirit  which  actuated  the  United  States  to 
return  the  indemnity  of  Shimonoseki  dictated  all 
its  dealings  with  Japan  under  successive  presi- 
dencies. General  Grant  proved  himself  an  unfail- 
ing friend;  not  only  during  his  tenure  of  office,  but 
even  after  he  retired  to  private  life,  his  friendship 
never  flagged.  When  making  his  tour  around  the 
world  in  1880,  he  made  a long  sojourn  in  Japan. 
In  the  repeated  interviews  he  had  with  our 
Emperor,  he  won  the  absolute  confidence  of  our 
Sovereign,  and  the  advice  Grant  then  gave  has 
made  a deep  impression  upon  the  Emperor’s  policy. 
A man  of  the  camp  and  the  battle-field.  President 
Grant  served  the  cause  of  peace  when  he  mediated 
between  China  and  Japan  on  the  question  of  the 
Loo-Choo  Islands. 

To  further  illustrate  this  cordial  relationship, 
take  the  cases  of  consular  jurisdiction  and  of 
tariff  autonomy — two  questions  which  harassed 
our  nation  for  a long  time.  Let  me  explain. 
When  the  treaty  was  first  signed,  Townsend  Harris 
was  averse  to  depriving  Japan  of  the  power  of 


286 


XHe  Japanese  Nation 


enforcing  its  own  laws  upon  foreigners;  but,  as 
our  laws  were  at  the  time  crude  in  the  extreme,  he 
proposed  extra-territorial  rights  for  his  country- 
men. This  example  was  naturally  followed  by  all 
European  Powers.  As  for  the  second  question, the 
tariff — having  had  no  foreign  trade  regulations  prior 
to  the  Commercial  Treaty  with  the  United  States, 
we  were  ignorant  of  the  means  of  raising  a revenue 
by  tariff,  much  more  of  protecting  native  indus- 
tries. Commerce  with  the  Chinese  and  the  Dutch 
had  been  conducted  upon  a basis  of  fair  trade. 
Townsend  Harris  first  taught  us  to  impose  cus- 
toms duties.  Instead  of  taking  advantage  of  our 
ignorance,  he  carefully  compiled  a tariff-schedule, 
more  with  the  interest  of  Japan  in  view  than  with 
that  of  America, — again  showing  a remarkable 
sense  of  equity.  These  tariff  regulations  w’ere 
altered  when  the  anti-foreign  movement  gave  to 
the  Treaty  Powers  an  opportunity  to  further  their 
claims  for  more  advantages. 

To  recover  her  judicial  autonomy  by  the  sum- 
mary abolition  of  foreign  jurisdiction  and  to  regain 
the  power  of  fixing  her  own  tariff -rates,  were  the 
fundamental  objects  of  our  treaty  revision  in  the 
eighties  of  the  last  century.  Without  these  powers, 
no  country  can  be  said  to  be  on  an  equal  footing 
with  the  rest  of  the  world.  Indeed,  she  can  never 
aspire  to  belong  to  the  “family  of  great  nations” 
and  will  forever  be  treated  as  an  inferior  and  a 
stranger. 

Japan  decided  to  frame  all  her  laws  on  Western 


America  and  Japan 


287 


principles;  so  that  the  Treaty  Powers  might  recog- 
nise the  equity  of  her  legislation.  After  every 
preparation  had  been  made  to  claim  legal  and 
tariff  autonomy,  when  we  proposed  to  the  Powers 
that  the  treaties  should  be  revised,  it  was  the 
United  States  that  most  readily  acceded  to  our 
desires,  and  though  the  revised  treaty  was  first 
signed  with  England,  everybody  concerned  knew 
that  the  consent  and  the  backing  of  the  United 
States  were  a powerful  factor.  Mr.  Cleveland,  in 
1884,  expressed  entire  willingness  to  revise  what- 
ever was  detrimental  to  the  integrity  and  interests 
of  Japan  in  the  treaties  then  existing. 

Nor  was  Japan  always  the  passive  recipient  of 
American  good-will.  In  Korea,  in  the  last  two 
decades  of  the  past  century,  how  often  did  Ameri- 
can citizens  have  to  take  shelter  under  the  roof  of 
our  Legation,  for  protection  from  mobs! 

Such  an  act  implies  more  than  mere  interna- 
tional courtesy,  or  at  least  it  can  be  made  a tie 
of  more  than  rigid  formality.  So  it  was  during 
the  war  between  China  and  Japan.  Japan  asked 
the  United  States  to  look  after  our  interests  in 
China,  and  China  asked  the  same  of  the  United 
States  in  Japan. 

More  than  once  has  the  United  States  performed 
the  good  office  of  aiding  us  to  solve  intricate  inter- 
national problems.  Of  General  Grant’s  service, 
I have  spoken.  Even  before  his  time,  in  1871, 
when  a complication  arose  between  China  and 
Japan  regarding  Formosa,  and  we  were  obliged 


288  THe  Japanese  Nation 

to  send  out  an  armed  expedition  to  that  island, 
General  Le  Gendre,  the  American  Consul  in  Amoy, 
rendered  valuable  aid  in  making  clear  to  the  world, 
so  to  speak,  our  real  intentions  and  attitude. 

At  the  close  of  the  Japan-China  War,  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Honorable  John  W.  Foster,  in  the 
capacity  of  adviser  to  Li  Hung-Chang,  served  the 
cause  of  Japan  as  much  as  that  of  China,  in  bring- 
ing about  a satisfactory  solution  of  the  differences 
between  the  two  nations. 

As  for  the  attitude  of  America  in  the  Russo- 
Japanese  War,  the  event  is  still  so  fresh  in  your 
memories  that  it  is  needless  to  review  it.  It  was 
in  1905  that  this  great  war  ended  and  peace  was 
concluded  at  Portsmouth  through  the  good  offices 
of  President  Roosevelt. 

Only  six  years  have  passed  since  America 
crowned  her  traditional  friendship  of  half  a cen- 
tury towards  Japan,  with  her  unstinted  sympathy 
during  the  Russo-Japanese  War!  Only  six  years  I 
— a short  period  in  a nation’s  history,  even  in  these 
days  of  steam  and  electricity.  If  Rome  was  not 
built  in  a day,  a Nero  or  a Vandal  can  destroy  it  in 
a day.  Are  there  not  Neros  and  Vandals  in  the 
twentieth  century,  who  delight  in  working  havoc 
among  friendly  nations?  In  -the  brief  interval, 
mischief  has  been  brewing  in  some  quarters  to 
bring  about  disruption  of  our  historic  relations. 
Some  ominous  prophecies  have  been  uttered  that 
a war  between  Japan  and  America  is  inevitable  in 
a few  years.  “The  best  of  prophets  of  the  future  is 


-America  and  Japan  289 

the  past  ” (Byron),  and  looking  back  upon  the  past, 
who  has  cause  to  fear?  WTiich  of  the  parties  has 
wronged  the  other?  Those  who  know  nothing  of 
the  past,  strain  their  eyes  to  discover  the  slightest 
possible  cause  for  trouble.  They  represent  Japan 
as  harbouring  territorial  ambition,  of  casting  an 
evil  eye  upon  Haw^aii  and  the  Philippines, — or 
nearer,  upon  Magdalena  Bay! 

We  have  a proverb,  “Fear  creates  hobgoblins 
out  of  shadows.”  The  most  unsophisticated 
Japanese  labourers,  toiling  in  the  sugar  planta- 
tions of  Hawaii  or  in  the  tobacco  fields  of  Luzon, 
are  elevated  in  the  eyes  of  the  doubting  to  the 
dignity  of  military  spies.  Not  a single  gimboat 
is  built  in  Japan  but  is  constructed  as  an  evi- 
dence that  preparations  are  in  train  for  the 
bombardment  of  San  Francisco  or  the  seizure 
of  Manila.  If  w'e  buy  rice  from  China — which  we 
annually  do — in  quantities  greater  than  the  usual 
amount,  because  of  floods  in  our  interior,  that,  too, 
is  distorted  into  an  indication  of  victualing  the 
navy'.  Certainly  Japan  is  flattered  beyond  her 
deserts  when  the  world  thinks  that  she  can  lightly 
go  into  war  with  a foreign  Power  or  take  Hawaii 
and  the  Philippines,  in  spite  of  all  that  she  has  to 
carry  on  in  Korea,  Manchuria,  and  Saghalien! 
The  American  public  has  forgotten  the  agreement 
between  this  country  and  Japan,  signed  only  four 
years  ago,  November  31,  1908,  by  which  instru- 
ment each  Government  promises  to  respect  the 
territorial  possessions  of  the  other  on  the  Pacific. 


19 


2go  XHe  Japanese  Nation 

This  document  fully  implies  community  of  purpose 
and  i)ractical  co-operation  in  Far  Eastern  affairs. 
The  agreement  further  pledges  that  the  two  Gov- 
ernments, in  ease  anything  should  occur  to  menace 
the  status  quo  of  either,  will  commimicate  with  each 
other,  in  order  to  arrive  at  a mutual  understanding 
regarding  the  measures  to  be  taken. 

So  much  for  the  terror  of  Japan’s  territorial 
aggression  upon  American  dominions! 

What  other  possible  cause  is  there  for  rupture 
between  us? 

The  California  question  I Much  ado  was  made 
about  nothing.  When  facts  are  all  carefully  sifted, 
we  shall  be  foreibly  reminded  of  an  old  Latin 
proverb — Parturiunt  montes;  nascetur  ridiculus 
mus.  (The  mountains  are  in  labour;  a ridiculous 
mouse  will  be  brought  forth.) 

The  so-called  anti- Japanese  erusade  was  started 
and  organised  by  a certain  Tveitmoe,  who,  when 
still  in  his  native  country,  Noru^ay,  served  it  by 
working  in  prison  as  a convict  and  who  is  at 
present  serving  his  adopted  eountry  in  the  same 
capacity.  His  habit  of  spending  much  time,  in 
a penitentiary  seems  to  have  been  contagious. 
Anyhow,  it  is  a striking  coincidence — ^let  it  be 
said  in  honour  of  the  American  judiciary! — that 
three  or  four  other  people  who  took  prominent 
part  in  the  anti -Japanese  movement  in  1906  and 
1907  are  all  serving  their  term  in  jail — and  this 
despite  the  fact  that  Japanese  laws  are  not  in  force 
in  California!  Another  agitator,  one  Fowler,  who 


America  and  Japan 


291 


distinguished  himself  as  Secretary  of  the  Japanese- 
Korean  Exclusive  League,  had  not  been  long  on 
the  stage  before  he  was  adjudged  insane  by  Judge 
Kellogg  (who,  it  may  also  be  remarked,  is  not 
a Japanese  justice)  and  was  committed  to  an 
asylum.  These  “martyrs”  are  not  the  only  mice 
that  were  brought  forth  from  the  mountains  of  the 
Golden  State,  when  they  were  in  labour.  With  a 
fund  supplied  from  some  mischief -making  source, 
they  went  about  declaring  impending  danger  to 
American  civilisation  from  the  incoming  of  the 
Japanese;  but  I wish  to  make  it  clear  that  their 
imprisonment  has  nothing  to  do  with  their  atti- 
tude against  our  people.  I must  state  in  justice  to 
the  great  fairness  of  mind  shown  by  these  men  that 
they  did  not  attribute  to  Japanese  importation 
or  machinations  the  San  Francisco  earthquake! 
Even  now,  anti-Japanese  sentiment  sometimes 
makes  its  appearance  to  adorn  the  platform  of 
some  office-seekers  in  times  of  local  election,  or 
when  work  is  slack  and  propagandists  arc  well 
paid.  Otherwise  all  is  quiet  along  the  Pacific 
Coast,  and  the  American  orchardists  and  the 
farmers,  as  Mr.  Mackenzie  in  his  official  capacity 
as  Labor  Commissioner  of  that  State  has  reported, 
arc  regretting  the  decreasing  supply  of  Japanese 
labour. 

Viewed  not  only  as  a California  problem  but  as 
a matter  of  national  significance,  the  immigration 
question  is  certainly  more  serious;  but  its  serious 
feature  is  largely  of  an  abstract  and  not  of  a 


2Q2  XKe  Japanese  Nation 

concrete  character.  Our  labourers  began  to  come  to 
California  in  1886,  and  their  immigration  steadily 
increased  until  they  numbered  thirty  thousand  in 
1907.  Thirty  thousand  is  not  in  itself  a small 
number,  and  might  have  given  anxiety  if  the 
labourers  had  settled  in  one  place;  but  we  must 
remember  that  thirty  thousand  is  no  more  than 
one  four-hundredth  part  of  about  one  million  two- 
hundred  thousand  immigrants  of  all  nationalities 
who  came  to  the  United  States  in  that  one  year 
of  1907.  In  no  year  has  Japanese  immigration 
reached  two  per  cent,  of  the  total,  whereas  Austro- 
Hungarians,  Italians,  and  Russians  usually  exceed 
twenty  per  cent,  of  it.  If  it  is  feared  that  our 
people  confine  themselves  to  the  Pacific  Coast, 
official  returns  should  comfort  you  with  the 
assurance  that  those  who  remain  there  are  only 
about  one-sixth  or  one-seventh  of  the  number  of 
the  European  immigrants  who  reach  these  Western 
shores.  As  to  their  character,  the  majority  of 
them  are  farmers  and  farm-labourers,  just  what 
California  orchards  and  farms  are  most  in  need  of. 
Then  there  are  a considerable  number  of  pro- 
fessional men.  As  to  financial  competence,  the 
official  returns  show  that  the  average  sum  of 
money  brought  by  each  Japanese  (the  figure  is  for 
1906,  which  was  by  no  means  an  exceptional  year) 
is  thirty-one  dollars, — smaller  than  the  fifty-eight 
dollars  of  the  English  or  the  forty-one  dollars  of 
the  Germans,  but  larger  than  the  sum  brought  by 
the  Russians,  Italians,  Irish,  Scandinavians,  Poles, 


-A.merica  and  Japan 


293 


and  some  others.  As  to  our  labourers  becoming 
public  charges,  here  again  we  turn  to  the  official 
report  of  the  Immigration  Bureau  and  read  with 
some  surprise  that  in  1906  there  was  one  Japanese 
received  into  the  hospital  for  treatment,  as  against 
two  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-two 
Italians,  two  thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety- 
five  Hebrews,  or  one  thousand  Poles.  If  our 
people  do  not  (cannot!)  compete  with  members 
of  other  nationalities  in  the  field  of  public  relief, 
neither  do  they  compete  with  American  labourers 
in  the  field  of  employment.  They  are  mostly 
engaged  in  work  which  American  labourers  shun — 
agriculture. 

I have  inflicted  upon  you  some  dry  figures,  hop- 
ing that  they  will  reveal  to  unprejudiced  minds 
how  much  alarm  has  been  created  for  so  little 
cause ! Let  it  be  far  from  me  to  make  any  attempt 
to  show  that  our  immigrants  are  better  than  those 
of  other  nationalities, — though  a close  study  of 
the  Immigration  Commissioner’s  Reports  and  the 
Reports  of  the  State  Labour  Commissioner  of 
California  may  point  that  way.  I am  not  here  to 
advocate  their  cause.  If  I can  only  make  it  clear 
that  they  are  not  worse  than  European  immigrants 
and  that  they  are  not  a menace  to  American 
institutions — that  is  all  I care  to  prove,  or  at  least 
to  intimate. 

As  to  restrictions  to  be  imposed  on  the  free  en- 
trance of  foreigners,  Japan  recognises  that  America 
or  any  other  country  has  a right  to  frame  its  own 


294  XHe  Japanese  Nation 

laws  concerning  immigration  into  its  own  terri- 
tory, and,  recognising  this,  she  offered  to  restrict 
on  her  side  the  departure  of  an  undesirable  ele- 
ment of  her  labouring  population  to  this  country. 
She  has  kept  to  the  letter  the  terms  of  the  so-called 
gentlemen’s  agreement  on  this  matter.  The  most 
prejudiced  opponent  of  Japanese  immigration  has 
no  reason  for  complaint,  for  more  of  our  people  are 
leaving  the  Pacific  Coast  than  are  arriving  there. 
Many  an  American  has  expressed  the  opinion 
that  our  Government  is  carrying  out  its  word 
too  rigorously  and  scrupulously.  At  any  rate  the 
immigration  question  is  practically  solved. 

For  want  of  a plausible  cause  for  alienation 
between  the  two  nations,  ingenious  minds  have 
tried  to  find  one  in  China  and  Manchiiria.  They 
claim  American  interests  clash  with  those  of  Japan. 
I fail  to  see  what  American  interests  are  meant. 
If  they  refer  to  trade,  I only  wash  that  America 
had  trade  there  large  enough  to  make  it  w^orth 
while  for  us  to  compete  with.  Our  trade  in  ^lan- 
churia  totals  about  twenty  million  dollars  per 
annum,  and  that  of  aU  other  coimtries  put  together 
(excepting  the  trade  of  China)  amoimts  to  only 
seven  millions.  If  by  interest  is  meant  American 
capital,  I should  like  to  know  how  much  of  real 
American  capital  is  invested  there.  \\Tien  it  is 
imderstood  that  the  loan  forced  upon  China  by 
the  Four  Powers  is  in  a precarious  state,  American 
capital  will  be  glad  to  find  investment  elsew^here — 
nearer  home  in  South  America — ^w’here  Germans 


America  and  Japan 


295 


are  pushing  on,  the  while  Americans  are  talking  of 
the  Far  East.  If  interests  mean  Americans  resi- 
dent in  Manchuria,  the  whole  American  popula- 
tion there  can  be  put  in  a couple  of  Pullman  cars, 
fifty-two  Americans  as  against  forty  thousand 
Japanese. 

Reports  have  been  current  in  newspapers  and 
periodicals,  to  the  effect  that  the  commercial  ad- 
vance of  Japanese  in  Manchuria  was  made  under 
selfish  discrimination  and  in  flagrant  violation  of 
“Open  Door”  promises.  It  is  a remarkable  fact 
that  those  who  make  this  charge  against  us  never 
cite  a concrete  case,  never  give  the  exact  date  or 
data,  to  substantiate  their  accusation.  It  is 
always  by  deductive  or  rather  seductive  logic  that 
they  try  to  prove  it.  They  state  that  Japanese 
merchants  are  making  headway  there,  whereas 
the  accusers  themselves  (all  honourable  men,  of 
course)  made  a failure  of  their  own  enterprises — ■ 
therefore  the  Japanese  must  have  resorted  to 
clandestine  methods;  the  same  argument  that 
was  used  against  Othello’s  success.  Our  answer 
must  necessarily  be  very  much  like  his.  The  truth 
is  that  our  present  advance — and  we  also  expect 
reverses,  according  to  the  natural  course  of  com- 
merce— is  so  simple  and  plain  that  it  may  well  serve 
for  the  school-room  illustration  of  a principle  in 
political  economy.  It  is  this:  Manchuria  produces 
an  abundance  of  soy  beans.  Until  a few  years 
ago,  they  were  not  used  in  Europe  or  America,  and 
Japan  was  almost  the  only  purchaser  of  them.  A 


2q6  TKe  Japanese  Nation 

good  deal  of  the  trade  in  the  interior  of  Manchuria 
is  transacted  through  barter,  or,  if  with  money, 
by  the  use  of  small  silver  coins,  and,  buying  most, 
we  sold  most.  There  is  in  the  whole  transaction 
no  further  mystery  than  this,  that  in  all  exchange 
he  who  takes  most,  gives  most.  There  might 
indeed  be  mystery  if  we  should  buy  Manchuria’s 
beans  without  selling  anything  in  return.  The 
Mitsui  firm,  who  conduct  the  bean  trade,  na- 
turally, and  wisely  too,  as  they  imagined,  tried 
to  open  a new  market  for  it  in  Europe,  and 
succeeded  so  well  that  the  oil-seed  crushers  of 
England  found  the  soy  beans  excellent  for  their 
purpose,  as  well  as  for  cattle  feed.  As  the  demand 
for  these  beans  increased  year  by  year,  British 
firms  began  to  deal  directly  with  Manchurian 
farmers  after  the  manner  of  the  Japanese — with 
the  result  that  beans  form  a considerable  portion 
of  Hull  imports,  and  that  English  trade  is  now 
making  its  way  farther  and  farther  into  the  interior 
of  Manchuria,  at  the  expense  of  oiu*s.  The  door  is 
wide  open;  there  is  no  reason  why  American 
trade  should  not  enter, — the  more  so,  as  flour  and 
kerosene  oil  (just  the  articles  we  ourselves  pur- 
chase from  this  coimtry)  are  in  great  demand 
there.  No,  there  is  no  infernal  magic  or  xmder- 
hand  discrimination  in  oirr  trade  in  Manchuria. 
Our  methods  are  such  as  any  other  people  can 
adopt,  and  when  they  adopt  them  and  succeed,  we 
shall  perhaps  appear  less  villainous. 

If  evil  reports  regarding  om  advance  in  Man- 


America  and  Japan 


297 


churia  should  reach  their  ears,  it  will  pay  lovers 
of  peace  and  of  justice  to  take  the  trouble  of  tracing 
them  to  their  sources ; for  I myself  have  heard  them 
emanating  from  those  who  failed  through  their  own 
incapacity  or  miscalculation.  There  is  nothing  so 
illuminating  in  historical  research  of  any  kind  as 
to  go  straight  to  the  Quellen! 

At  present,  at  least,  as  far  as  commercial  rivalry 
is  concerned,  one  will  seek  in  vain  in  Manchuria  for 
a cause  important  enough  to  cause  a rupture  of 
friendship  between  the  United  States  and  Japan. 

A rather  childish  belief  prevails  among  some 
credulous  people  that  simply  because  Japan  has 
distinguished  herself  twice  in  two  decades  as  a 
military  power,  she  may  engage  in  war  at  any 
time  upon  the  slightest  provocation. 

Why  we  went  to  war  with  China  and  why  with 
Russia  are  matters  of  history  so  well  established 
as  to  leave  no  doubt  regarding  the  motive  of 
Japan.  But  even  in  undertaking  these  wars,  just 
and  justifiable  as  they  were,  we  did  not  act  hastily. 
In  the  good  old  Book,  it  is  written:  “What  king, 
as  he  goes  to  encounter  another  king  in  war,  will 
not  sit  down  first  and  take  counsel  whether  he  is 
able  with  ten  thousand  to  meet  him  that  cometh 
against  him  with  twenty  thousand?  ” 

We  believe  we  are  sufficiently  sane  to  count  the 
cost  of  a war.  What  can  we  gain  by  mobilising 
our  army  or  our  navy,  as  some  people  delight  in 
prophesying,  against  the  United  States? — send  a 
whole  fleet  across  the  Pacific  or  concentrate  our 


298  The  Japanese  Nation 

battle-ships  in  the  Philippines,  unmindful  that  we 
shall  thereby  expose  our  back  naked,  as  it  were,  to 
China  and  Russia;  immindful  of  the  most  impor- 
tant trade  we  have — the  trade  with  this  coimtry; 
unmindful  of  the  enormous  debt  we  already  have 
and  of  the  still  greater  financial  strain  which  would 
accrue ; unmindful  of  all  the  cordial  relations  of  the 
past,  even  though  these  may  be  largely  a matter 
of  sentiment,  but  none  the  less  a strong  sentiment? 

Our  statesmen  and  our  populace  know  better 
than  to  take  such  a rash  step.  They  know  full 
well  that  what  they  want  is  peace. 

I cannot  more  fitly  describe  the  sentiment  of 
our  nation  or  more  appropriately  close  this  chapter 
than  by  relating  my  last  conversation  with  our 
leading  statesman  and  recent  Premier — Prince 
Katsura.  A fortnight  before  I left  Japan  on  the 
present  mission,  I spent  some  hours  with  him, 
and  when  I asked  his  opinion  regarding  the  rumours 
of  war  with  America,  he  answered  by  saying : 

“You  know,  Mr.  Nitobe,  more  or  less  of  my  career. 
In  my  teens,  I fought  in  the  war  of  the  Restoration  as 
a private,  in  the  old  feudal  fashion.  As  I grew  up,  I 
studied  military  science  and  art  in  Germany,  and  in 
our  war  with  China  I led  an  army  as  a general.  Then 
later  on,  in  the  Russo-Japanese  War,  I led  the  whole 
nation  as  Prime  Minister.  I say  this  not  to  brag,  but 
to  remind  you  that  I am  not  a novice  in  the  matter  of 
wars.  I know  them  well — too  well.  I know  all  the 
horrors  of  war  and  the  worse  horrors  of  its  after- 
effects. It  is  largely  people  who  have  never  seen  war 


America  and  Japan 


299 


who  talk  glibly  of  it.  I wonder  if  the  newspaper  men 
who  write  of  it  really  know  what  it  means,  what  it 
involves.  As  for  myself,  I cannot  advocate  it.  As 
long  as  I am  in  office — and  even  after  leaving  office,  as 
long  as  I have  any  influence  in  national  affairs — I 
assure  you,  there  shall  be  no  war  with  America.” 


CHAPTER  XII 

AMERICAN  INFLUENCE  IN  THE  FAR  EAST 

PRIOR  to  the  advent  of  Cushing  to  China 
(1884)  and  of  Perry  to  Japan  (1852),  while 
the  British  in  the  Far  East  were  engrossed  with 
their  policy  of  forcing  the  opiiun  trade  on  the 
Celestial  Kingdom,  an  American  merchant  of 
Macao,  Mr.  C.  W.  King,  was  engaged,  as  we  have 
seen  in  a previous  lecture,  on  his  own  initiative  and 
responsibility  in  an  attempt  to  unlock  the  doubly- 
barred  portals  of  the  Japanese  Empire  so  that 
foreign  commerce  might  find  entrance.  This  he 
was  bent  upon  accomplishing  by  peacefiil  means, 
indeed  by  the  most  humane  of  means — ^by  taking 
wdth  him  in  his  own  ship,  the  Morrison,  seven  ship- 
wrecked Japanese  subjects,  who  had  been  thrown 
ashore  on  the  Pacific  Coast  of  the  American  con- 
tinent. 

Like  a few  previous  attempts  made  by  his 
cotmtrymen,  Mr.  King’s  mission  ended  in  failure — 
a failure,  which  was,  as  it  were,  but  the  repulse  of 
a lesser  wave  in  the  ever-swelling  tide  of  the  ocean 
of  history.  On  his  return,  he  appealed  to  “the 


300 


-American.  Influence 


301 


champions  of  his  country’s  benevolence”  not  to 
despair  of  opening  up  intercourse  with  Japan, 
adding,  in  the  most  earnest  tone,  that  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  divide  the  maritime 
influence  of  the  world  and  that  ‘‘America  is  the 
hope  of  Asia  beyond  the  Malay  Peninsula,  that 
her  noblest  effort  will  find  a becoming  theatre 
there.”  In  his  mind’s  eye,  he  could  already  dis- 
cern, rising  at  the  gateways  of  the  sun,  a grand 
scene  of  human  probation,  the  vast  colosseum  of 
the  moral  world,  as  he  called  it.  He  predicted  the 
time  when  Japan  would  more  readily  yield  to  and 
repay  the  efforts  of  America  than  China,  and  that 
the  latter  could  best  be  reached  through  the 
channels  of  the  former. 

Such  was  the  first  audible  utterance — albeit 
not  so  clearly  recognised  as  it  deserved — of  an 
American  citizen,  and  for  aught  I know  it  voieed 
the  sentiment  of  his  people  as  the  avantcourier  of 
Western  progress. 

A whole  generation,  as  measured  by  the  royal 
psalmist,  has  since  passed  away,  and  in  these 
three-score  years  and  ten,  the  sun  has  witnessed 
marvellous  changes,  such  as  it  never  before 
witnessed  in  its  career  aroimd  this  planet — 
changes  that  have  transformed  the  face  and  the 
spirit  of  the  Far  East.  True  to  the  traditions 
of  their  fathers  and  pressed  by  the  necessity  of 
self-preservation,  both  China  and  Japan  have  in 
that  interval  reverted  more  than  once  to  the 
tactics  of  exclusivism  and  resorted  to  weapons 


302  THe  Japanese  Nation 

of  violence  in  order  to  close  the  doors  they  once 
opened. 

No  cannon-balls  have  done  more  effective  work 
in  the  history  of  civilisation  than  those  fired  by  the 
combined  fleet  of  Great  Britain,  Holland,  France, 
and  the  United  States  upon  the  forts  and  batteries 
of  Shimonoseki,  in  the  autumn  days  of  1 863.  That 
they  did  not  fail  to  strike  the  defences  of  this 
harbour,  is  a matter  of  small  concern.  The  balls 
pierced  farther  than  the  bulwarks  of  stone.  They 
penetrated  the  very  walls  of  exclusivism.  Hence- 
forth, there  were  apertures  through  which  West- 
ern influence  could  find  entrance.  Civilisation  is 
like  a fluid  that  follows  the  law  of  osmosis.  Cul- 
tures of  different  densities,  when  separated  by  a 
porous  partition,  flow  each  into  the  other  for  final 
equable  diffusion.  Inequalities  in  culture  are  not 
tolerated  in  modem  civilisation.  “America  is  not 
civil,”  says  Emerson,  “while  Africa  is  barbarous.” 

Through  the  apertures  made  by  the  Shimonoseki 
bombardment,  there  flowed  into  Japan  the  ideas 
and  ideals  of  the  Occident.  In  China,  owing  to 
the  magnitude  of  her  territory  and  population, 
the  process  was  not  so  simple.  The  more  redoubt- 
able walls  of  Chinese  exclusion  had  to  suffer  re- 
peated assaults,  starting  vdth  the  Opium  War, 
through  the  vicissitudes  of  the  Taiping  Rebellion 
and  the  war  with  Japan  and  ending  with  the  Boxer 
movement,  before  perforations  were  made  large 
enough  for  osmosis  freely  to  begin.  Indeed,  in  the 
case  of  our  great  neighbour,  instead  of  the  steady 


American  Influence 


303 


influx  of  a regenerating  stream  effecting  her  deliver- 
ance, we  see  that  her  moss-grown  ramparts  are 
crumbling  before  the  sudden  and  devastating  tor- 
rent of  a republican  deluge. 

The  soul  of  Japan,  quickly  responding  to  the 
impulse  from  the  West  and  rising  to  the  conscious- 
ness of  her  destiny,  adjusted  her  institutions,  social 
and  political,  to  the  demands  of  the  age,  and  set 
forth  on  a new  career  of  what  sociologists  like  to 
call  telic  progress.  China  is  now  fast  following 
in  the  same  path,  though  with  more  painful  steps, 
paying  higher  toll  for  her  long  delay.  She  has  but 
newly  learned  what  Japan  learned  fifty  years  ago, 
that  contact  and  communion  with  the  West  under 
external  pressure  bring  no  guarantee  of  safety  or 
growth. 

What  part  in  this  epochal  interchange  between 
the  East  and  the  West,  between  the  Pacific  and 
the  Atlantic — the  moulding  influence  of  knowl- 
edge, ideas,  and  institutions — does  the  United 
States  play?  Are  the  conditions  in  the  Far  East 
so  radically  changed  that  the  words  of  Mr.  King 
no  longer  voice  the  attitude  of  the  American 
people?  Has  the  phenomenal  growth  of  its  Pacific 
Coast  so  estranged  the  higher  interests  of  China 
and  Japan  from  the  heart  of  this  nation,  that  it  now 
throws  stones  instead  of  offering  bread?  Has  the 
acquisition  of  the  Sandwdch  Islands  so  turned  the 
thoughts  of  America  that  she  now  looks  upon  us  as 
possible  intruders  and  enemies?  Plas  the  entree 
of  this  country  into  the  sphere  of  Asiatic  politics 


304  THe  Japanese  Nation 

brought  about  a deviation  in  public  opinion  from 
the  viewpoint  of  a King  to  that  of  a Hobson?  Is 
the  Panama  Canal,  to  the  opening  of  which  the 
Japanese  and  the  Chinese  are  looking  forward 
with  great  anticipations  of  trade — I ask,  is  the 
Panama  Canal  intended  for  a war-path  or  a trade 
route? 

There  are  voices  heard  on  the  American  side  of 
the  Pacific,  shrill  and  alarming,  that  a conflict,  and 
an  armed  one  at  that,  is  inevitable  between  the 
East  and  the  West.  The  “Yellow  Peril”  scare, 
started  by  the  Kaiser  and  the  Czar,  leaped  over  the 
British  Islands,  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  found 
some  adherents  here.  Managed  by  a paid  propa- 
ganda, it  has  been  preached  and  proclaimed  by  a 
host  of  minor  prophets. 

What  a far  cry  from  the  time  when  King  made 
his  appeal  to  “the  champions  of  his  cotmtry’s 
benevolence”;  from  the  later  time  when  Dr. 
Samuel  Wells  Williams  concluded  his  accoimt  of 
the  Perry  expedition  in  these  words:  “In  the 
higher  benefits  likely  to  flow  to  the  Japanese  by 
their  introduction  into  the  family  of  civilised 
nations,  I see  a hundred-fold  return  for  all  the 
expenses  of  this  expedition  to  the  American 
Government,”  and  from  the  still  later  day  when 
Townsend  Harris,  Minister  Bingham,  Secretary 
Seward,  Minister  Burlinghame,  and  General  Grant 
enunciated  in  no  uncertain  words  the  ethical 
principles  which  should  guide  their  country  in  its 
dealings  with  the  Far  East.  No,  I cannot  believe 


American  Influence 


305 


that  this  nation,  still  in  the  prime  of  manhood, 
could  so  easily  forget  the  pledges  and  ideals  of 
youth.  Its  assurances  of  friendship  and  of  good 
will  were  not  uttered  as  idle  words  of  diplomacy. 

In  1851,  at  the  time  that  Perry’s  expedition  was 
still  under  contemplation,  the  English  historian. 
Creasy,  declared  that  American  diplomacy  in  the 
East  wordd  be  “bold,  intrusive,  and  unscrupulous 
and  that  America  would  scarcely  imitate  the  for- 
bearance shown  by  England  at  the  end  of  her  war 
with  the  Celestial  Empire.’’  Of  the  prophet, 
Zadkiel’s  quaint  Almanac,  vaticinating  dire  mis- 
fortunes for  Japan  in  the  year  1852,  we  have 
already  spoken.  But  the  foreboding  of  historian 
and  prophet  alike,  proved  false.  That  its  early 
spirit  of  justice  and  equity  still  guides  this  nation 
in  its  Oriental  policy,  is  evidenced  by  the  words  of 
so  recent  and  authoritative  a writer  as  Captain 
Mahan.  Speaking  particularly  of  China,  he  says: 
“Our  influence,  we  believe — and  have  a right  to 
believe — is  for  good ; it  is  the  influence  of  a nation 
which  respects  the  right  of  peoples  to  shape  their 
own  destinies,  pushing  even  to  exaggeration  its 
belief  in  their  ability  to  do  so.’’ 

American  influence  in  Asia  cannot  be  otherwise 
than  wholesome  as  long  as  it  is  e.xercised  in  infusing 
the  vast  mass  of  humanity  there  with  the  con- 
sciousness of  their  owm  dignity  and  mission— a 
task  w'hich  Emope  not  only  neglected,  but  posi- 
tively refused  to  perform  on  every  occasion.  Great 
and  real  progress  must  work  from  within,  though 


20 


3o6  THe  Japanese  Nation 

its  first  imptilse  may  come  from  without.  Unless 
it  can  intensify  the  inner  impulse,  external  pressure 
only  ends  in  making  for  a while  a shallow  dent  on 
the  surface. 

A culture  that  is  forced  upon  an  imwiUing 
nation  belongs  to  things  of  time  “ that  have  voices, 
speak  and  vanish.”  China  knows  this  only  too 
well.  Spiritual  power  comes  only  through  our 
own  choosing.  We  are  free  to  prefer  a stone  to 
bread,  or  a serpent  to  a fish.  Men  and  nations  are 
judged  by  the  choice  they  make.  The  real  differ- 
ence between  the  culture-grades  of  individuals  as 
of  ethnic  groups  is  the  one  difference  betw'een 
their  volimtary  and  their  involimtary  activities, — 
between  compulsory  adoption  and  reflective  choice, 
between  mechanical  imitation  and  judicious  selec- 
tion, between  bondage  and  freedom.  It  has  been 
said  that  Die  Weltgeschichte  ist  das  Weltgericht, — 
equally  tnxly,  though  in  a different  sense  of  the 
term,  may  we  not  say  that  a nation’s  history  is  a 
nation’s  judgment? 

Any  outside  influence,  to  be  permanent,  must 
strike  at  the  root  of  inner  consciousness — the  very 
bottom  of  sentient  existence;  at  the  core  of  per- 
sonality w^here  man  divests  himself  of  every  race 
distinction  and  stands  on  the  ground  common  to 
the  White  and  the  Yellow,  the  Black  and  the 
Brown,  and  where  there  is  “nor  border,  breed  nor 
birth,  though  they  come  from  the  ends  of  the 
earth.” 

It  is  by  awakening  in  the  Far  Eastern  mind, 


American  Influence 


307 


the  sense  of  personal  and  national,  responsibility, 
that  America  has  imparted  energy  to  its  inertness 
■ — by  suggesting  to  it  that  power  which  so  emi- 
nently characterises  the  American  people  and 
which  Professor  Miinsterberg  calls  “the  spirit  of 
self-direction.’’  It  was  this  spirit  of  self-reliance 
and  self-development  which  early  passed  through 
cannon  holes  into  Oriental  communities,  and  there 
leavening  the  leaders  and  the  masses  emancipated 
Japan  from  the  iron  shackles  of  convention  and 
conformity,  and  which  promises  to  put  an  end  to 
the  sleeping  cycle  of  Cathay  and  lead  that  hoary 
nation  to  a new  heaven  and  a new  earth. 

In  so  doing  America  has  only  acted  in  a manner 
true  to  her  love  of  fair  play,  which  among  her  sons 
is,  as  one  of  their  exponents  very  happily  puts  it, 
“a  kind  of  religion.’’  It  is  a spirit  of  tolerance,  or 
recognition  of  others’  rights,  which  imposes  on 
each  the  duty  of  regarding  his  fellow-men  with 
impartiality  and  of  taking  the  view,  to  borrow 
Dr.  Henry  Van  Dyke’s  words  again,  that  “any 
human  system  or  order  which  interferes  with  this 
impartiality  is  contrary  to  the  will  of  the  Supreme 
Wisdom  and  Love.’’ 

Diplomacy,  conducted  in  consonance  with  these 
high  principles,  shed  radiance  at  once  far-reaching 
and  benignant.  This  great  feat  America  has 
achieved  and  can  achieve  to  a still  greater  degree. 
Her  noblest  labour  in  the  Far  East  lay  in  the  new 
evaluation  of  the  individual,  arousing  self-respect 
and  teaching  personal  as  weU  as  political  liberty, 


3o8  THe  Japanese  Nation 

with  the  result  of  the  growth  of  national  con- 
sciousness. 

It  is  a well-known  fact  that  their  acquaintance 
with  the  Declaration  of  Independence  of  theUnited 
States,  was  the  disclosure  of  a new  mine  of  thought 
to  the  makers  of  new  Japan.  The  idea  of  the 
present  Chinese  Revolution  is  a repubhc  after  the 
pattern  of  the  United  States. 

In  the  light  of  the  preceding  statement,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  perceive  why  European  nations  have 
found  so  little  response  among  Eastern  peoples. 
No  wonder  Mr.  Meredith  Townsend  despairs  of 
any  lasting  foothold  of  the  West  in  the  East. 
How  many  Christians  would  turn  their  left  cheek 
when  their  right  is  struck!  What  people  wordd 
willingly  kiss  the  feet  that  tread  upon  them,  be 
they  never  so  beautifully  shod  I 

The  Roman  god  Terminus,  in  his  palmiest  days, 
drew  a sacred  circle  aroimd  the  Mediterranean, 
and  its  northern  periphery  touched  the  Black 
Forests;  but  in  the  course  of  a few  centuries  its 
charm  was  broken,  and  the  august  rule  of  divine 
Caesars  left  behind  traces  which  are  now  of  interest 
chiefly  to  archeologists.  When  we  compare  the 
ruins  of  the  Roman  dominion,  imposing  as  they 
are,  with  the  immortal  influence  of  Athens,  which  is 
carved  deep  upon  the  memory  of  Europe  and  is 
still  exhibited  in  its  noblest  form,  “wherever,” 
to  quote  from  the  famous  eulogy  of  Macaulay, 
“literature  consoles  sorrow  and  assuages  pain, 
wherever  it  brings  gladness  to  eyes  which  fail  with 


American  Influence 


309 


wakefulness  and  tears,  and  ache  for  the  dark  house 
and  the  long  sleep,”  we  see  that  the  influence  won 
and  exercised  by  the  sword  is  destined  to  fade 
away  as  ‘‘the  captains  and  the  kings  depart.” 
Territorial  domination  upheld  by  the  sword  is 
guaranteed  no  long  lease  of  hfe. 

The  best  credential  of  American  diplomacy  in 
its  early  days  in  the  Far  East  was  the  imsullied 
record  of  the  United  States  in  respect  to  territorial 
designs.  In  his  day,  Townsend  Harris  assured 
our  Government  in  the  following  words : 

“The  policy  of  the  United  States  is  different  from 
that  of  other  countries.  She  has  no  territory  in  the 
East,  neither  does  she  desire  to  acquire  any  there. 
Her  Government  forbids  obtaining  possession  in  other 
parts  of  the  world,  and  we  have  refused  all  the  re- 
quests of  distant  countries  to  join  our  nation.” 

Though  these  w'ords  sound  strange  in  view  of 
the  insular  possessions  of  the  United  States,  never- 
theless, they  were  honest  words  then  and  true. 
China,  Japan,  and  Siam  felt  perfectly  safe  in  their 
dealings  with  the  United  States.  While  they  had 
ample  reason  to  suspect  all  the  approachments  of 
European  Powders  only  as  steps  to  ultimate  en- 
croachment, their  offers  of  help  as  baits — a nation 
possessed  of  no  greed  for  an  inch  of  land,  no  thought 
for  intervention  in  the  internal  order  of  a native 
community,  was  a pleasing  discovery  in  Oriental 
eyes.  Here  lay  the  secret  of  the  marvellous 


310  THe  Japanese  Nation 

success  of  American  diplomacy,  and  an  Oriental 
Lothario  could  on  his  part  exclaim:  “Here  or 
nowhere  is  America.” 

The  disinterested  position  which  the  United 
States  holds  or  has  held  in  foreign  politics,  her 
freedom  from  European  entanglements  and  com- 
plications, has  placed  her  in  an  attitude  of  supreme 
independence  in  diplomacy.  She  can  initiate  a 
policy  and  act  with  little  reference  to  European 
balance  of  power.  The  very  possibility  of  the  free 
exercise  of  will,  sanctioned  by  a history  which 
shows  that  she  has  never  abused  it,  gives  to  her  a 
preponderating  moral  advantage.  Having  de- 
servedly gained  a reputation  for  fair  play,  her 
judgment  is  summoned  on  occasions  involving 
great  issues.  By  the  magic  of  her  name,  she  can 
rally  behind  her  a large  following  of  European 
nations.  We  may  recall  in  this  connection  names 
such  as  Seward,  Grant,  Cleveland,  Hay,  Foster, 
and  Roosevelt.  Mankind  is  always  willing  to 
follow  a man  or  a nation  in  whose  eyes  there  is 
no  mud.  America  will  continue  to  exercise  this 
power  as  long  as  her  eyes  and  her  hands  are  clean ; 
but  the  instant  she  stoops  for  a clod  of  earth, 
virtue  will  go  out  of  her. 

Has  then  her  prestige  waned  with  her  debut  into 
the  Eastern  Hemisphere?  Has  she  sold  her  birth- 
right of  world-moderatorship  and  of  Asiatic  guard- 
ianship for  a pottage  of  tropical  islands?  God 
forbid  that  a taste  of  new  territory  should  infect 
her  with  the  lust  of  milomania.  Mr.  Roosevelt 


>\merican  Inflvience  311 

set  an  example  of  a novel  American  principle  of 
colonial  policy  in  San  Domingo,  and  the  Filipinos, 
now  passing  through  the  American  school  for  self- 
government,  may,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  rejoice 
in  the  completion  of  their  tutelage  and  celebrate 
the  day  of  their  graduation  by  a grand  convocation. 

With  such  a vision  before  us,  we  welcome  the 
presence  of  the  United  States  in  Asiatic  waters. 
We  welcome  her  as  she  emerges  from  behind  the 
rising  sun  and  marches  to  her  new  seat  under  the 
mid-day  sky.  As  far  as  China  and  Japan  are  con- 
cerned, they  would  rather  see  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
float  over  those  isles  of  fronded  palms  she  now 
rules  than  any  other  flag.  European  nations  are 
still  trying  to  discover  and  devise  suitable  methods 
of  administering  their  Asiatic  possessions,  and. 
while  none  of  them  are  satisfied  with  their  own 
schemes  and  plans,  it  will  be  a valuable  contribu- 
tion to  the  science  of  politics  and  the  art  of  gov- 
ernment, if  the  United  States  should  succeed  with 
her  “Holy  Experiment”  in  the  Philippines. 

The  United  States  may  by  her  mere  presence 
exercise  a salutary  influence  on  the  Far  Eastern 
situation.  Her  position  as  an  Asiatic  Power 
entitles  her  more  than  ever  to  a voice  in  the  par- 
liament of  Asia.  She  may  do  nothing;  but  her 
mere  presence  will  have  a catalytic  action  for  whole- 
some activity.  It  has  latterly  been  broached  in 
irresponsible  quarters  that  Japan  looks  with  jeal- 
ousy upon  the  naval  growth  of  the  United  States. 
Why  should  we — as  long  as  you  have  no  designs 


312 


XHe  Japanese  Nation 


upon  us — and  why  should  you  have  any?  It  has 
been  suggested  that  Japan  fears  to  lose  control  of 
the  Chinese  market  and  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Why 
should  we  be  jealous  of  American  trade  in  the  Far 
East  when  it  forms  but  a bagatelle  of  the  whole 
amount  of  some  two  billion  dollars,  of  which 
Great  Britain’s  share  is  no  less  than  a fourth?  If 
our  ambition  were  to  monopolise  the  Celestial  or 
any  other  Eastern  market,  as  we  are  suspected  of 
wishing  to  do,  we  would  contest  with  more 
important  rivals  than  the  Americans. 

Control  of  the  Pacific!  What  does  this  high- 
sotmding  phrase  mean,  anyhow?  May  we  not  say 
with  Professor  Coolidge  that  the  grandiloquent  ex- 
pressions “dominion  of  the  seas,’’  “mastery  of  the 
Pacific,’’ and  the  like,  are  mere  claptrap?  If  the 
control  of  an  ocean  means  as  much  as  was  implied 
in  the  boastful  message  of  Kaiser  Wilhelm  to 
Emperor  Nicholas,  in  which  he  calls  himself  the 
Admiral  of  the  Atlantic  and  the  Czar  the  Admiral 
of  the  Pacific, — that  phrase  may  be  dispensed  with 
as  an  empty  bit  of  rhetoric.  Who  is  the  lord  of 
the  Atlantic?  Who  controls  it,  and  who  are  de- 
barred from  its  area  of  35,000,000  square  miles? 
What  national  flag  or  flags  can  attain  so  gigantic  a 
size  as  to  cover  the  vast  expanse  of  the  Pacific,  which 
is  twice  as  large  as  the  Atlantic?  Our  school  child- 
ren are  as  familiar  as  are  yours  w'ith  the  story  of 
King  Canute  vainly  commanding  the  w'aves  to  re- 
tire. Let  the  United  States  increase  her  navy  to  a 
size  commensurate  with  her  greatness, — it  will  ac- 


American  Influence 


313 


centuate  her  presence  in  Asia.  Let  her  steamships 
plough  the  ocean  lengthwise  and  crosswise,  it  wall 
make  possible  a swifter  and  larger  exchange  not 
only  of  trade  but  of  cultiiral  influences  between  the 
East  and  the  West.  Let  the  Stars  and  Stripes  dot 
the  Ocean  of  Peace  as  constellations  strew  the  Arm- 
ament above, — and  I assure  you  that  they  harmon- 
ise w'ell  with  the  sim-flags  of  Japan.  Never  will 
the  sun  and  stars  collide  in  their  orbits. 

The  six  hundred  million  souls,  comprising  one- 
third  of  the  human  race,  living  on  the  borders  of 
this  great  Ocean,  will  hail  the  ensign  of  the  Union — 
as  long  as  it  is  unfurled  in  the  cause  of  human  free- 
dom and  universal  justice  and  individual  develop- 
ment,— in  one  word,  of  the  moral  principles  for 
which  America  stands;  for  I believe,  that,  paradox- 
ical as  it  may  seem  at  Arst  sight,  it  is  through  the 
young  civilisation  of  the  United  States  that  the 
old  East  will  receive  the  freshest  moral  impetus. 

At  present  one  perceives  in  the  Orient  two  cur- 
rents of  thought  flow’ing  from  the  Occident,  mould- 
ing the  rising  generation.  One  is  derived  from 
the  continent  of  Europe,  especially  from  Slavic 
and  Romance  literature  and  art,  making  for  skep- 
ticism and  decadence,  often  pessimistic,  negative, 
and  destructive;  the  other,  derived  from  the 
indefatigable  spirit  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  con- 
structive, robust,  forever  ready  to  be  up  and 
doing  w’ith  a “heart  within  and  God  o’erhead.” 

Nor  are  the  introduction  and  spread  of  the  moral 
sentiments  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  in  the  Far  East 


3H  TKe  Japanese  Nation 

like  ‘ ‘ the  grafting  of  a bamboo  shoot  upon  the  stock 
of  a pine,”  as  we  term  incongruities.  Psychology 
shows,  and  experience  demonstrates,  that  the  theory 
of  race  antipodalism  is  untenable.  There  is  a tie  of 
brotherhood  between  an  English  gentleman  and  a 
J apanese  samurai . B y the  introduction  or  adoption 
of  an  Occidental  standard  of  ethics,  is  not  meant 
a blind  acceptance  of  alien  culture.  Its  purport  is 
to  express  in  the  more  modem  and  universal  terms 
of  the  West,  the  thoughts  and  feelings  that  have 
been  the  heritage  of  the  Orient  for  centuries  past. 

A man  of  high  reputation  for  scholarship  and 
character,  in  summing  up  impressions  of  his  recent 
travels  in  the  East,  stated  his  belief  that  neither 
China  nor  Japan  will  be  Westernised.  Professor 
Hart,  when  he  so  expressed  himself,  had  chiefly  in 
mind  outward  manners  and  customs  and  social 
institutions,  and  I concur  largely  in  his  judgment. 
But  it  is  none  the  less  tme  that  even  in  these 
exterior  manifestations  of  culture,  the  East  can  no 
longer  defy  the  ascendency  of  the  West,  notably  of 
America.  How  can  it  be  otherwise?  The  per- 
forations made  in  the  walls  of  Asiatic  exclusivism 
have  been  dehberately,  carefully,  and  constantly 
enlarged  from  within.  The  very  men  who  reared 
the  ramparts  have  razed  them  with  their  owm 
hands  for  the  more  rapid  and  voluminous  inflow  of 
the  streams  of  Western  culture.  Osmosis  on  a 
gigantic  scale  has  set  in,  and  even  though  as  Pro- 
fessor Hart  says,  the  East  and  the  West  may  never 
realise  uniformity  of  social  customs  and  insti- 


American  Influence 


315 


tutions,  they  can  and  will  attain  to  unity  of  pur- 
pose and  unanimity  of  thought. 

If  until  the  advent  of  Cushing  to  China,  and  of 
Perry  to  Japan,  the  American  advance  in  the  East 
had  been  repulsed  like  a wavelet  that  dashes  in 
vain  against  a rock,  the  great  tide  of  Western 
civilisation  has  since  then,  “without  rest,  without 
haste,”  been  rolling  on,  laving  the  shores  of  Asia, 
surging  over  her  rocks,  filling  her  rivers  and  creeks 
with  the  eternal  freshness  and  irresistible  force  of 
the  swelling  sea.  As  in  a few  years  the  waters  of 
the  Atlantic  w'iU  mingle  with  the  waters  of  the 
Pacific,  the  civilisation  conceived  in  the  womb  of 
Asia,  bom  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  and 
brought  to  maturity  by  the  denizens  of  the  Atlantic 
coasts,  will  soon  enrich  the  venerable  civilisation 
of  its  primal  home,  and  thus  make  complete  its 
circuit. 

The  Pacific  awaits  with  open  arms  the  coming 
of  the  Atlantic.  We  shall  greet  her  with  the  words 
of  Byron: 

“ Thou  glorious  mirror,  where  the  Almighty’s  form 
Glasses  itself  in  tempests;  in  all  time. 

Calm  or  convulsed, — in  breeze,  or  gale,  or  storm. 
Icing  the  pole,  or  in  the  torrid  clime 
Dark-heaving;  botmdless,  endless,  and  sublime, 

The  image  of  Eternity, — the  throne 
• Of  the  Invisible ! ” 


APPENDIX 


PEACE  OVER  THE  PACIFIC 

[Delivered  at  the  Leland  Stanford,  Jr.,  Uuiversity,  September, 

1911] 

{CONSIDER  it  a great  kindness  on  your  part  to  invite 
.me  to  this  institution,  whose  fame  as  a contributor 
to  knowledge  has  reached  all  quarters  of  the  globe. 
I am  conscious  of  the  rare  honour  you  have  conferred 
upon  me  by  so  doing.  I have  accepted  the  invitation, 
however,  not  simply  because  I feel  it  an  honour  to  do 
so,  but  because  I feel  myself  under  double  obligation 
to  this  distinguished  academic  body.  There  is  no 
institution  of  learning  outside  of  our  native  country 
which  has  so  many  of  my  compatriots  studying  under 
such  favourable  circumstances  as  those  I see  arotmd 
me.  If  in  some  parts  of  California  you  build  your 
gates  too  narrow  for  our  people  to  enter,  here,  at  least, 
I see  the  portals  wide  open  to  welcome  mankind  ir- 
respective of  colour.  Here,  at  least,  the  American 
flag  flies  over  every  race  of  man,  to  assure  equal  justice 
and  equal  opportunity.  It  is  certainly  a pleasure  to 
stand  in  your  midst  and  to  thank  you  in  person  for 
the  generous  welcome  you  have  extended  to  my 
fellow  countrymen.  But  there  is  still  another  circum- 
stance which  puts  me  under  obligation  to  you.  Three 
weeks  ago,  I had  the  privilege  of  having  your  honoured 
and  beloved  president  under  my  own  roof.  I had  not 
had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  him  before,  and  I was 

316 


Peace  over  the  Pacific  317 

delighted  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  this  man, 
whose  scientific  achievements  have  placed  him  upon 
a pedestal  of  immortal  fame,  and  who,  nevertheless, 
has  not  lost  a childlike  simplicity  of  nature,  whose 
arms  are  ever  extended  to  unite  the  world  in  the 
bonds  of  peace. 

America  has  done  much  in  educating  Japan;  biit 
if  there  is  any  one  message  which  you  must  send  to 
us  just  at  this  juncture,  it  is  the  one  which  Dr.  Jordan 
is  carrying  to  my  country ; for,  owing  to  one  reason  or 
another,  there  seems  to  be  afloat  in  the  air  the  most 
mischievous  and  the  most  unfortunate  of  rumours  re- 
garding a possible  estrangement  between  the  United 
States  and  Japan.  I know  that  you,  as  members  of 
the  Leland  Stanford  Jr.  University,  have  imbibed  the 
spirit  of  peace  and  a general  love  of  mankind.  Why, 
these  very  walls  preach  peace  and  good-will  to  men, 
and  do  not  make  it  incumbent  upon  a stranger  to 
repeat  what  you  have  always  heard ; but  in  the  world 
outside  the  rumours  are  wild  and  loud.  Many  in- 
terests are  involved  in  keeping  them  alive.  “Most 
of  them,”  very  rightly  said  Dr.  Brown  in  the  Lake 
Mohonk  conference  last  year,  “most  of  them  belong 
in  the  category  of  thoughts  which  are  fathered  by  a 
wish.  Men  who  fear  and  dislike  the  Japanese  are 
eager  to  see  some  nation  fight  them.”  There  are  not 
a few  business  concerns  which  profit  by  agitation 
about  war ; there  are  not  a few  individuals  who  utilise 
the  falsest  reports  for  their  own  promotion  or  profit; 
and  there  are  not  a few  nations  that  would  derive 
benefit  from  an  outbreak  betwixt  your  country  and 
ours.  I do  not  like  to  indulge  in  suspicion,  but  my 
suspicions  are  well  grounded  that  many  an  individual, 
many  a business  concern,  and  many  a nation  is  bent 


3i8  THe  Japanese  Nation 

upon  stirring  up  strife  between  the  two  countries, 
solely  from  selfish  motives.  I do  not  charge  any 
particular  company  with  this  crime ; but  many  a com- 
pany can  get  good  orders  for  ship-building  materials 
and  armament  and  provisions,  simply  by  inciting  a 
war-scare. 

While  the  peace-loving  community  is  alarmed  and 
distressed  at  the  prospect  of  any  rupture,  the  inter- 
ested parties  grow  fat  at  their  expense.  A scarecrow 
in  a melon-patch  may  frighten  away  innocent  birds, 
but  a thief  may  be  hiding  himself  under  the  scare- 
crow itself.  When  I reflect  that  the  general  public 
is  so  easily  swayed  by  the  fabrications  and  machina- 
tions of  scare-mongers,  the  infinite  credulity  of  the 
human  mind  strikes  me  as  appalling.  You  and  I, 
however,  who  enjoy  the  advantages  of  a higher 
education  than  is  allotted  to  the  average  citizen, 
certainly  ought  to  know  better.  Sift  all  this  empty 
talk  of  war,  and  what  have  you  left?  Air- bubbles 
cannot  be  sifted,  nor  can  mere  froth  and  foam.  Not 
a grain  of  reason  is  left  that  can  be  given  as  a just 
occasion  for  war,  whereas  there  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that  the  two  nations  which  border  the  Pacific 
are  united  by  bonds  of  friendship  stronger  than  those 
that  bind  any  other  two  nations.  You  may  say, 
that  sounds  all  very  well,  but  what  about  racial  dif- 
ferences? Is  there  not  already  a Rassen-Kampf 
(race  struggle)?  Furthermore,  there  is  no  legal 
instrument  that  unites  the  two  nations  in  permanent 
peace;  no  alliance,  no  arbitration  treaty.  But,  my 
friends,  there  are  ties  that  bind  more  closely  than  blood. 
There  are  words  that  join  us  more  strongly  than 
treaties  and  documents.  If  you  doubt  this,  cast 
your  glance  upon  the  history  of  American-Japanese 


Peace  over  tKe  Pacific  319 

intercourse  from  its  very  beginning,  or,  if  you  can 
afford  more  time,  study  it  page  by  page,  and  you  can 
draw  a conclusion  for  yourself  that  the  alpha  and 
omega  of  this  history  is  exhausted  in  the  one  word — 
Peace. 

In  the  whole  course  of  this  history,  you  have  always 
taken  the  active  side;  we  have  always  maintained  the 
passive.  You  have  helped  us  in  our  debut  into  the 
society  of  nations;  you  have  always  chaperoned  us 
in  our  youthful  career;  and  though  gratitude  is  out- 
side the  category  of  political  virtues,  our  national 
memory  keeps  alive  the  good-will  that  America  has 
always  manifested  in  her  dealings  vdth  us.  I am 
not  so  unsophisticated  as  to  believe  that  Commodore 
Perry’s  expedition  was  prompted  by  an  impulse  of 
unalloyed  Christian  charity.  I know  that  its  motive 
was  the  advantage  to  be  derived  from  possessing  a 
coaling  station,  a refuge  for  the  American  sailors  and 
waifs,  and  from  the  extension  of  commerce;  but  I also 
believe  that  it  was  the  desire  of  the  United  States 
Government  to  effect  its  purpose  in  the  kindliest 
manner.  From  his  own  account,  we  are  aware  that 
Commodore  Perry  was  not  always  peacefully  dis- 
posed. More  than  once  did  he  ask  his  Government 
whether  he  might  resort  to  arms,  should  diplomacy 
prove  unavailing.  As  often  was  he  told  to  refrain 
from  using  force.  Because  Perry  succeeded  in  what 
was  at  that  time  regarded  as  an  impossible  task,  by 
luckily  avoiding  bloodshed,  he  is  called  the  benefactor 
of  our  country.  From  what  he  himself  stated  about 
his  real  attitude  of  mind,  it  seems  that  peaceful  means 
were  imposed  upon  him  by  his  Government.  We 
have  erected  a monument  to  his  memory  on  the  spot 
where  he  first  landed,  and  it  is  far  from  me  to  detract 


320  THe  Japanese  Nation 

one  iota  from  the  honour  due  his  name,  but  we  can 
call  him  the  benefactor  of  our  country  only  by  a 
rhetorical  stretching  of  the  term.  That  term  is  more 
deservedly  applied  to  the  man  and  to  the  Govern- 
ment that  stayed  his  hand  from  possible  violence, 
and  as  long  as  the  United  States  Government  is  a 
government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people,  the  gentle  feeling  of  gratitude  ought  to  go  out, 
as  it  does,  to  you  as  a nation.  And  this  incident  in 
the  life  of  Perry  ought  to  teach  us  that  whatever 
military  and  naval  men  may  say,  as  long  as  public 
opinion,  as  long  as  you — men,  women,  and  children — ■ 
keep  up  the  peaceful  tradition  of  your  fathers,  the 
waters  of  the  Pacific  will  remain  calm  and  unbroken. 

The  American  who  came  after  Perry  was  indeed 
the  type  and  in  very  deed  the  representative  of 
Americans,  of  just  and  true  Americans. 

Townsend  Harris,  a merchant  of  New  York,  was 
dispatched  to  Japan,  the  first  Minister  representing 
the  United  States.  A man  of  stern  rectitude  and 
gentlest  powers  of  persuasion,  he,  indeed,  more  than 
any  other,  deserves  the  epithet  of  benefactor ; because 
in  all  his  dealings  with  us,  the  weaker  party,  he  never 
took  advantage  of  our  ignorance,  but  formulated  a 
treaty  with  the  strictest  sense  of  justice.  He  did  not 
hesitate  to  sacrifice  the  many  advantages  which  his 
country  would  gain  by  apparently  honest  means,  if 
he  saw  that  there  would  be  undue  loss  for  Japan. 
After  him  there  were  many  representatives  of  this 
country,  and  a large  majority  did  credit  both  to  their 
people  and  to  the  cause  of  justice  and  humanity  at 
large.  Names  such  as  Bingham,  Hubbard,  and  Buck 
are  still  remembered,  as  will  be  that  of  your  last 
Ambassador,  Mr.  O’Brien,  with  deep  respect  and 


Peace  over  tHe  Pacific 


321 


affection.  As  I have  said,  you  have  been  the  active 
party  in  otu*  diplomatic  relations  and  it  was  fortunate, 
not  only  for  us  and  for  the  other  cotmtries  of  the  Far 
East,  but  for  every  friend  of  peace  and  justice,  that 
your  envoys  did  not  represent  merely  their  Govern- 
ment in  Washington,  but  the  cause  of  humanity  as 
well.  We  are  nowadays  prone  to  forget,  in  our 
enthusiasm  for  nationality,  that  there  is  a cause 
higher  and  nobler  than  nationality.  It  is  said  that 
the  Americans  and  the  Japanese  are  the’  two  most 
patriotic  nations  on  the  face  of  the  globe;  that  they 
are  most  sensitive  to  national  honour  and  interest; 
that  they  are  most  easily  moved  by  any  appeal  to 
their  patriotism;  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  we  are 
alike  in  this  respect,  for  we  are  the  youngest  of  nations. 
No  other  peoples  feel  as  keenly  as  do  we  that  we  have 
made  our  respective  countries  what  they  are. 

It  is  the  bounden  duty  of  every  individual  who  looks 
upon  national  responsibility  as  though  it  were  a per- 
sonal one,  to  maintain  the  amicable  relation  that  has 
existed  between  us.  Sometimes  suspicion  creeps  in 
between  us,  and  sometimes  arguments  threaten  to  rend 
us  apart.  So-called  scientists  declare  from  the  plat- 
form that  races  so  diverse  as  the  White  and  the  Yellow 
cannot  live  under  the  same  sky,  apparently  forgetting 
that  there  is  no  race  known  under  the  sun  which  has 
not  enjoyed  citizenship  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 
It  has  been  one  of  the  grandest  and  most  exalting 
sights  that  can  be  witnessed,  to  see  thousands  of  im- 
migrants, representing  more  than  fifty  distinct  nation- 
alities, pouring  into  America,  and  to  see  those  streams 
of  varied  hues  merging  in  a short  time  into  one  cur- 
rent of  republican  citizenship.  To  exclude  a race  on 
accoimt  of  racial  difference  is  to  admit  the  incapacity 


31 


322  The  Japanese  Nation 

of  American  institutions  to  assimilate  all  races — 
as  was  once  the  boast  of  the  country.  I cannot  be- 
lieve that  the  present  generation  of  Americans  has 
lost  the  power  which  its  forefathers  possessed  and 
exercised,  under  conditions  more  strenuous. 

One  of  the  greatest  sons  of  California,  Mr  Burbank, 
has  intimated  in  his  Training  of  the  Human  Plant, 
that,  the  wider  the  field  for  selection  or  for  sports  to 
grow  and  the  more  chances  there  are  for  the  crossing 
of  species,  the  greater  is  the  probability  of  evolving 
a plant  of  importance;  and  Mr.  Kidd  states  that  as 
yet  no  scientific  standard  has  been  discovered  to 
gauge  the  superiority  of  one  race  over  another.  Every 
race  has  traits  which,  when  contributed,  make  the 
human  plant  richer  and  higher. 

Then  there  are  economists  who  whisper  to  you  that 
cheap  labour  must  be  excluded,  who  forget  that 
labour  is  only  one  of  the  many  factors  of  production. 
If  it  is  true  that,  the  cheaper  the  labour,  the  greater 
is  the  necessity  for  its  exclusion,  why  not,  as  Bastiat 
would  say,  bum  all  the  latest  inventions  in  machinery? 

Then,  again,  there  are  moralists  who  are  anxious 
lest  the  good  manners  of  their  own  people  should 
be  spoiled  by  lower,  alien  standards  of  morality.  This 
is  an  old  argument,  which  was  current  as  far  back  as 
the  Middle  Ages,  and  while  examples  are  not  wanting 
to  give  coloiir  to  this  solicitude,  proofs  are  on  record 
that  a strong  nation  exercises  beneficent  influence  not 
only  upon  those  who  come  thither  from  afar,  but 
upon  neighbouring  nations.  And  certainly  America, 
in  the  prime  of  its  national  manhood,  can  exert  a su- 
perior influence  upon  other  peoples. 

Of  all  the  reasons  which  are  given  for  the  aliena- 
tion of  Japan  from  America,  the  one  which  has 


Peace  over  tHe  Pacific  323 

seemed  most  disturbing  to  the  American  people  at 
large  is  the  assertion  that  the  Japanese  are  incapable 
of  assimilation.  Lafcadio  Hearn  has  given  currency 
to  the  term  “race  antipodalism,”  the  belief  that  the 
Japanese  are  psychologically  so  far  removed  that,  the 
more  you  educate  them  even  in  Western  knowledge, 
the  farther  they  will  diverge  from  you  in  thought. 
Hearn  with  all  his  wonderful  insight  into  Japanese 
nature,  or  perhaps  because  of  his  enthusiasm  for  things 
Japanese,  may  have  thought  that  he  was  serving 
the  cause  of  our  people  by  making  them  appear  as  a 
unique  nation,  and  his  opinion  is  echoed  by  many  who 
fling  it  into  our  very  face.  Unfortimately,  there  are 
rampant  Chauvinists  among  us,  as  there  are  every- 
where else,  who  pride  themselves  upon  being  different 
from  the  rest  of  the  world ; who  exaggerate  small  dif- 
ferences, and  who  insist  upon  diverging  from  the  path 
the  Western  nations  pursue;  who  identify  idiopathy 
with  native  strength,  and  who,  in  so  doing,  exalt 
national  foibles  into  national  virtues,  and  purposely 
keep  themselves  aloof. 

I myself  have  no  patience  with  those  whose  mental 
vision  never  reaches  beyond  their  limited  horizon. 
They  have  failed  to  read  in  history  that  the  peoples 
who  called  themselves  special  favourites  of  their 
Creator,  who  prided  themselves  upon  what  they  pos- 
sessed and  upon  what  they  did  not  possess,  fell  easy 
\dctims  to  the  barbarians,  Gentiles,  and  the  heretics 
whom  they  were  wont  to  despise.  The  time  has  long 
passed  when  a nation  could  live  in  seclusion  and  iso- 
lation. The  modem  age  does  not  tolerate  apartness. 
It  grinds  down  peculiarities  and  unll  even  coerce 
nations  to  surrender  their  characteristics  until  they 
leam  to  associate  with  others  on  a common,  equal 


324  XKe  Japanese  Nation 

basis  of  right  and  wrong,  of  good  and  bad.  I confess 
that  the  two  great  wars  in  which  we  came  out  tri- 
umphant have  turned  the  head  of  some  of  our  weaker 
brethren.  They  believe  that  our  success  was  due  ex- 
pressly to  the  spirit  of  Bushido,  the  remnant  of  that 
excellent  teaching  which  formed  the  samurai’s  code  of 
honoiir.  I myself  feel  partly  responsible  for  dissemi- 
nating this  idea.  I do  not  regret  that  I wrote  regard- 
ing it  and  in  behalf  of  it,  and  what  I have  written  and 
spoken  about  it  I have  no  mind  to  take  back ; but  I do 
not  share  the  views  of  the  Chauvinists  that  the  spirit 
of  Bushido  is  the  peculiar  monopoly  of  our  people; 
neither  do  I share  the  view  that  it  is  the  highest 
system  of  morality  that  man  can  conceive  or  construct. 
I know  its  weakness.  I know  all  its  temptations  to 
misinterpretation  and  degeneration,  and  I should  feel 
a regret  too  deep  for  words,  if  my  people  failed  to  see 
that  the  new  wine  requires  a new  wine-skin.  I should 
be  most  sorry  if  the  noble  ethics  of  Bushido  were  con- 
verted by  bigots  into  an  anti-foreign  instrument.  I 
know  that  I am  exposing  myself  to  grave  suspicion 
and  misunderstanding  on  the  part  of  my  countrymen, 
as  though  I were  catering  to  the  anti- Japanese  effu- 
sions of  some  Americans  by  dilating  upon  the  seamy 
side  of  what  usually  passes  as  patriotism;  but  patri- 
otism itself  is  a word  so  grossly  abused!  Doctor 
Samuel  Johnson  said  long  ago  that  this  word  is  the 
resort  of  the  scoundrel.  Especially  among  Chauvin- 
ists is  it  freely  used  as  a substitute  for  reason  and 
argument.  Crimes,  robbery,  and  slaughter  are  com- 
mitted under  the  spell  of  its  name.  What  common 
sense  and  morality  cannot  justify  is  exonerated  under 
its  sanction.  Greed  of  territory  and  wars  ensuing 
therefrom  are  vindicated  by  an  appeal  to  it.  So  much 


Peace  over  tHe  Pacific  325 

so,  that  some  one  has  recently  defined  it  not  as  love  of 
land  but  as  “love  of  more  land.”  Two  such  patriotic 
nations  as  Japan  and  America,  unless  they  are  on  their 
guard,  can  easily  deceive  themselves  into  believing 
that  in  some  territory  which  they  covet,  whether 
mutually  or  separately,  they  may  come  into  conflict. 
We  were  highly  amused  at  the  strict  surveillance  of 
American  authorities  over  the  Japanese  in  the  Philip- 
pines. It  is  too  soon  to  forget  the  agreement  signed 
Nov-^ember,  1908,  between  the  two  countries,  through 
which  instrument  we  mutually  disclaimed  all  aggres- 
sive designs,  in  consequence  of  which  each  Government 
respects  the  territorial  possessions  of  the  other  on  the 
Pacific.  This  should  be  a sufficient  guarantee  that 
Japan  entertains  no  ambition  to  acquire  the  Philip- 
pines or  Hawaii.  Equally  amusing  sound  to  our  ears 
such  articles  as  often  appear  in  different  magazines  in 
regard  to  Japanese  artifice  in  China.  Now  and  then 
appears  a book  from  the  American  press  by  some  so- 
called  authority  on  Manchuria:  full  of  suspicions  but 
with  no  facts  to  substantiate  them,  yet  always  wind- 
ing up  vdth  the  hackneyed  conclusion — Japan  is  steal- 
ing American  trade  in  China. 

Americans  ought  to  know  by  this  time  that,  however 
mistaken  it  may  be  in  some  directions,  our  patriotism 
is  not  love  for  more  land.  My  contention  is,  on  the 
contrary,  that  our  patriotism  is  confined  too  narrowly 
within  the  home  land  and  feeds  itself  upon  the  insular 
spirit,  which  does  not  see  that  there  are  regions 
untouched  by  man  where,  if  they  but  work,  our 
people  will  be  welcome.  Just  as  nature  abhors  a 
vacuum,  social  economy  abhors  a dearth  of  labour 
when  land  and  capital  can  be  had  in  abundance. 
Look  at  those  orchard  hills  and  valleys  where  the 


326 


XKe  Japanese  Nation 


fruits  are  ripe  for  the  hand  of  the  picker ; look  at  those 
plains  where  the  sugar  beets  are  ready  for  the  weeder 
and  the  thousands  of  acres  grown  with  grain  and 
vegetables,  all  waiting  for  the  labour  of  men;  certainly 
California  needs  more  labour.  The  State  has  indeed 
been  for  years  in  the  condition  of  “chronic  labour 
famine.”  A great  state  of  over  165,000  square 
miles,  larger  than  the  area  of  Japan  itself  by  some 
10,000  square  miles,  and  provided  with  only  two  and 
one-third  million  of  population,  equal  to  one-twenty- 
second  part  of  our  own,  with  a density  of  only  fifteen 
per  square  mile,  must  depend  upon  foreign  labour 
for  the  proper  cultivation  of  its  soil.  Mr.  McKenzie’s 
report  says  that  Japanese  labour  is  responsible  for 
nearly  $30,000,000  worth  of  produce  in  this  State.  It 
is  depressing  to  think  of  the  vast  wealth  lying  unex- 
plored and  unexploited  in  this  great  State,  so  abund- 
antly blessed  by  nature,  simply  because  of  lack  of 
labour.  I wish  some  Stanford  man  would  take  up 
for  scientific  treatment, — perhaps  under  direction  of 
such  an  authority  as  Professor  Miller,  the  subject  of 
the  economic  loss  sustained  by  California  on  account 
of  Orientophobia.  Some  new  facts  may  come  to  light, 
as  was  the  case  in  the  study  of  a former  member  of 
your  university.  Miss  Mary  Roberts  Coolidge,  whose 
impartial  researches  made  clear  many  points  per- 
taining to  Chinese  labour.  I shall  not  be  at  all  sur- 
prised if  in  the  near  future,  when  prejudice  shall  have 
exhausted  its  breath  in  vociferation,  and  when  the 
Orientophobic  scales  shall  have  fallen  from  the  eyes 
of  labour  rings — California  may  once  more  open  its 
doors  for  our  people.  I know  too  well  the  avdul 
power  of  prejudice,  but  I also  know  that  economic 
law  is  stronger  than  prejudice.  What  California 


Peace  over  the  Pacific  327 

lacks  can  be  supplied  by  Japan,  and  what  the  super- 
abundant population  of  Japan,  the  density  of  which  is 
three  hundred  and  thirty-six  per  square  mile,  lacks — 
namely,  field  for  employment — California  can  offer 
in  abundance.  Far  from  there  being  any  conflict, 
there  is  actually  harmony  of  interests,  and  a little 
concession  on  both  sides  will  surely  do  away  with  the 
few  obstacles  that  may  be  imposed.  Amicable  solu- 
tion of  any  questions  arising  from  these  obstacles  is 
certainly  possible,  if  only  the  minds  of  both  parties 
are  open  to  it. 

We  have  already  gone  a long  way  toward  the  solution 
of  the  problem,  having  adopted  a method  which  is  clear 
and  summary.  To  put  it  concisely,  we  have  taken 
upon  ourselves  the  duty  of  restricting  immigration  to 
your  shores.  Without  any  treaty  or  convention,  purely 
by  a gentlemen’s  agreement,  this  has  been  accom- 
plished. The  result  is  patent  to  all.  I have  just  come 
across  the  Pacific  on  one  of  our  largest  steamers.  She 
was  laden  to  her  fullest  capacity  with  silk  and  tea; 
but  the  steerage  was  almost  empty,  and  the  few  Japan- 
ese passengers  in  it  were  bound  to  a French  island  of 
the  Lesser  Antilles.  The  rest  consisted  of  a number  of 
labourers  from  the  Philippines,  new  American  subjects 
who  were,  of  course,  admitted  free  of  conditions. 
But  to  return  to  my  Japanese  immigration  problem, 
though  a practical  solution  has  been  reached  for  the 
time  being,  there  is  some  doubt  as  to  the  permanency 
of  the  present  arrangement,  for  a proviso  regarding 
immigration  at  the  end  of  Act  II.  of  the  old  treaty  was 
omitted  in  the  new  treaty  made  public  last  spring. 
Thus  the  whole  situation  depends  upon  the  spirit  of 
concession  on  the  side  of  Japan,  upon  her  magnanim- 
ity, as  Professor  Coolidge  of  Harvard  puts  it.  “The 


328  TKe  Japanese  Nation 

arrangement,”  he  says,  “which  will  give  the  United 
States  the  protection  it  demands,  will  rest  not  on  the 
efficiency  of  its  own  laws,  but  on  the  fulfilment  of 
obligations  voluntarily  assumed  by  a foreign  state.” 
However  willing  Japan  may  be  to  continue  the  same 
course  of  restriction,  America  “cannot  depend  in- 
definitely on  the  generosity,  realtor  presumed,  of  a 
neighbour.” 

Professor  Coolidge  is  certainly  right,  speaking  as  a 
jurist, — just  as  Professor  Von  Holst  was  right  in 
speaking  as  a publicist,  of  the  dangers  threatening 
the  United  States  through  what  its  Constitution  has 
not  provided  for.  At  the  same  time,  if  a bona  fide 
check  to  emigration  is  scrupulously  carried  out  in 
Japan,  it  will  in  a few  years  become,  as  our  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs  said  during  the  last  session  of  our 
Parliament,  the  established  policy  of  the  Empire ; then, 
the  question  will  bother  neither  you  nor  us,  for  then 
there  will  be  no  question.  Good-will  can  put  to  rights 
the  confusion  which  an  appeal  to  law  can  only  make 
more  confused.  I believe  there  is  not  a single  case 
that  cannot  be  settled  by  friendly  means  better  than 
by  legal  procedure.  I think  it  was  Air.  Rowell  who 
expressed  his  solicitude  lest,  in  the  absence  of  a treaty 
stipulation,  the  act  of  a rowdy  boy  who  might  feel  like 
smashing  a Japanese  window  should  lead  to  interna- 
tional complications,  or  at  least  jeopardise  amity 
between  the  two  Powers.  If  the  authorities  in  Cali- 
fornia are  as  genuinely  disposed  as  are  the  Japanese 
to  settle  such  difficulties  amicably,  the  police  and  the 
Court  of  Justice  ought  to  be  able  to  do  so  in  five  min- 
utes. It  is  also  feared  that  a demagogue  may  arise 
in  Japan  and  make  of  a trifling  incident  an  issue  of 
international  magnitude.  I am  sorry  to  own  that 


Peace  over  the  Pacific 


329 


there  are  demagogues  in  my  country  as  in  yours, 
and  fire-spitting  journalists,  too,  and  hair-splitting 
jurists  as  well;  but  a foreign  policy,  such  as  the  policy 
of  restriction,  once  established  and  efficiently  carried 
out,  is  hardly  likely  to  be  upset  by  them.  If  I may 
be  allowed  to  express  my  private  opinion,  that  policy 
is  too  vigorously  and  too  conscientiously  put  into 
practice ; so  that  some  of  our  most  promising  students 
are  debarred  from  the  advantage  of  American  educa- 
tion and  some  of  the  most  intelligent  working-men 
are  lost  to  American  economy.  I may  add  this  opin- 
ion of  mine  is  shared  by  many  American  residents  in 
Japan. 

But,  pardon  me,  I have  sojourned  too  long  on 
the  California  coast,  because  my  mind  is  full  of 
California  impressions.  Though  I landed  here  only 
last  Saturday,  such  strange  sights  and  sounds  as  I did 
not  perceive  twenty-eight  years  ago,  when  I first 
passed  through  San  Francisco  on  my  way  to  Balti- 
more, overwhelmed  my  senses.  There  was  then  no  talk 
of  war;  no  word  of  ill-will  was  heard,  no  sound  of  ship- 
wrights working  on  a Dreadnaught,  no  sound  of  ma- 
sons building  a fort,  no  din  of  trumpet  or  of  drum;  all 
was  peace  along  the  Pacific.  I can  scarcely  believe  my 
own  eyes  and  ears,  so  stupendously  changed  is  the 
tone  of  American  life.  I wonder  if  this  is  progress. 
For  myself,  I cannot  believe  so.  I live  in  a land 
famed  for  its  soldiers  and  sailors;  but  I cannot  free 
my  mind  from  the  thought  that  armament  and  mili- 
tarism and  what  they  bring  in  their  train,  will  ulti- 
mately spell  the  ruin  of  the  nations  that  play  with 
them. 

So,  as  a son  of  Japan,  and  as  a w'ell-wisher  of 
America,  it  is  my  sincere  hope  that  all  these  rumours 


330 


XHe  Japanese  Nation 


of  war  may  prove  but  a transient  dream,  a horrible 
nightmare  that  passes  with  the  coming  of  the  dawn. 
May  we  earnestly  pray,  and  diligently  work  toward 
the  end,  that,  wherever  else  war-clouds  may  darken 
this  earth,  lasting  peace  shall  reign  over  the  Pacific. 


i 


INDEX 


A 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  262 
Agnosticism,  1 19 
Agriculture,  209-213:  animals, 
2 1 2-2 13;  arable  land,  35, 
209,  219;  capital,  2io;  col- 
leges of,  1 9 1 ; staples,  2 1 3- 
214;  taxation,  212 
Agricultural  College,  191 
Ainus  (aborigines),  86 
American-Japanese  intercourse, 
258-277;  effect  of  whaling 
on,  262,  278-279:  unsuc- 
cessful attempts  to  open 
Japan,  263-265,  268-270 
American-Japanese  relations, 
278-299:  anti-foreign  period, 

283- 284:  Prince  Katsura  on, 
298-299:  services  to  Japan, 

284- 288 

American  influence,  300-315: 
in  education,  182,  184 
Anglo-Saxon  influence,  183, 
i86,  313 

Army  conscription,  78 
Art:  Oriental  and  Greek,  3: 

Seiho  (painter),  lo;  of  Heian 
period,  61 ; of  Kamakura 
period,  63;  attitude  of  Jap- 
anese towards,  108-109 
Asia.  See  East 

B 

Banks,  1 70-1 73 
Bathing,  28,  153 
Biddle,  Commodore,  268-270 
Black  Current  (Kuro-Shiwo), 

263 


Brown,  Dr.,  317 
Buddhism:  absorbs  Shinto, 

142:  adopted,  56-57;  doc- 
trines, 145-148;  history,  138- 
139:  influence,  58-59,  62, 
140:  sects,  139,  141 
Bushido,  155-157,  166,  173- 
174:  author’s  valuation  of, 
324;  and  martyrdom,  69 

C 

Calendar,  80 

California,  44,  290-291,  326 
Character  of  Japanese,  107, 
114-115 

China:  early  communication, 
55:  influence,  56;  in  Formosa 
235-236:  regeneration  of, 

302-303,  308;  trade  with 
Japan, 228 

Chinese  Bank  clerks,  170-171 
Chosen.  See  Korea. 
Christianity:  i6th  and  17th 

century,  68-71;  present  sta- 
tus, 120 

Civil  Service,  195-197 
Classes,  Social,  209:  abolished, 

78 

Climate:  Japan,  28-30;  Tokyo, 
38:  Hokkaido,  38 
Colleges:  Agricultural,  191; 

Commercial,  190;  National 
{Koto-Gakko),  189:  Normal, 
185 

Confucius  and  Confucianism: 
Analects  introduced,  55;  in- 
fluence, 73,  158;  not  a 

religion,  1 19 
Creation,  Mythical,  51 

331 


332 


Index 


Commerce.  Trade 
Commercial  College,  190 
Commercial  morality,  1 70- 
173, 228-230 

D 

Death  Rate  in'  Formosa: 
opium  smokers,  244;  pest, 

247 

Debt,  War,  217 
Diet,  29,  2 1 3-2 1 5 
Divorce,  164 

Doshisha  [Christian  College], 
198 

E 

Earthquakes,  31 ; influence,  32- 
33:  science,  192 
East  and  West,  1-20;  con- 
trasted, 11-12,  204-205;  di- 
vision and  difference,  7-9 
Economic  conditions,  204-230; 
attitude  towards  economic 
activity,  206 ; commercial 
morality,  228-230;  cost  of 
living,  216;  finance,  217; 
foreign  trade,  226-228;  in- 
dustries, 220-223 : labour 

223-226 

Education,  81,  176-203; 

Charter  Oath  on,  77;  ele- 
mentary, 183-184;  expenses, 
186,  194;  female,  162,  185; 
higher,  189-192;  I mperial 
Rescript  on,  200-201 ; moral, 
198-199;  Samurai,  179; 
technical,  190;  Tokugawa 
period,  72 

Emigration:  California,  291- 

294;  Formosa,  219-220 
Emperor  Mutsuhito:  Coro- 

nation, 76;  grants  constitu- 
tion, 79:  on  education,  180, 
200-201 ; Proclamation,  76 
English,  186-187,  190-191 
Europe.  See  West 

F 

Family,  157-161.  [5ee  Divorce, 
Marriage,  Women,  etc.] 


f'armer:  status  of,  209;  statis- 
tics, 212 
Feudalism,  63 

Finance,  208,  217,  223,  226 
Flowers,  39,  42;  arrangement, 
64,  72,  166,  187 
Foreign  trade,  226-228 
Formosa  [Taiwan],  232-257; 
brigandage,  237,  241-242, 
248-252 ; colonial  policy, 253- 
257;  emigration  to,  219- 
220;  geography,  233-234; 
improvements,  253;  indus- 
tries, 252-253;  intercourse, 
235;  the  name,  232-233; 
occupation,  237;  opium,  243 
-244;  pest,  247;  sanitation, 
244-247 
Fukuzawa,  198 

G 

Geisha,  165-166 
Goto,  Baron,  219,  243 
Government  modernized,  79- 
82 

Grant,  General,  285 
H 

Hamy,  Prof,  [craniologist],  89 
Harris,  Townsend,  282-283, 
320 

Hart,  Prof.,  218,  314 
Heian  period,  61 
History:  ancient,  50-56;  early 
mediaeval,  56-63;  'late  me- 
diaeval, 63-71;  modem,  71- 
75:  present,  75-82;  of  Bud- 
dhism, 138-139 
Horses,  213 

I 

Immigration:  California,  291- 
294,  327-328;  Korea,  219; 
prehistoric,  42,  53,  87 
Imitativeness,  103-106 
Imperial  University,  191 
Imperialism,  i 


Index 


333 


Industries,  220-225;  arts  and 
crafts,  221-222;  capital,  223; 
labour,  220,  224-225;  re- 
sources, 220,  223 
Inventiveness,  105 
I to.  Prince,  254 
lyeyasu  Tokugawa,  71,  135 

J 

Japan:  area,  209:  geography, 
21-47;  isolation,  42-43,  73; 
mission  of  Japan  45:  name, 

52 

Jordan,  Dr.,  317 
K 

Kabayama,  Count,  237,  239 
Kamakura,  63 
Katsura,  Prince,  239 
Keio  University,  192,  197 
Kido,  181-182 
King,  Mr.,  263-267,  300,  304 
Kodama,  219,  240-241 
Korea  (Chosen):  annexed, 

231:  emigration  to,  219; 
influence,  57-58;  invaded, 
5.5:  Japanese  justice  in,  254; 
prehistoric  immigration  from 
«7 

Kyoto,  36,  58,  61-63 
Kwang-tung,  231 

L 


Labour:  Japan,  223-226;  Cali- 
fornia, 325-327 

Language,  99-102 

Laws,  80 

Li  Hung  Chang,  236,  242-244, 
252 

Literature:  Buddhistic  in- 

fluence, 59;  foreign,  102-103; 
Heian  period,  63:  Kamakura 
period,  63-64;  poetry,  112- 
H.3 

Loti,  Pierre,  154 


M 

Magdalena  Bay,  289 
Manchuria,  219;  Open  Door 
in, 295-297 
Marriage,  159-163 
Mito,  Prince  of,  2 n 
Mori,  Viscount,  183 
Munsterberg,  Prof.,  307 
Murray,  Dr.  David,  182 
Music,  110-112 

Mutsuhitd.  See  Emperor  Mut- 
suhito 

N 

Nagasaki,  259 
Nagoya,  35 
Nara,  57;  period,  61 
Naruse,  Mr.,  183 
National  College  {Koto- 
Gakko),  189 
Navy,  79,  81,  253 
Neeshima,  Joseph,  198 
Nogi,  General,  239 
Nonnal  College,  185 


O 

Okubo,  181 
Okuma,  198 

Open  Door  in  Manchuria,  295- 

297 

Opium  in  Formosa,  243-244 
Osaka,  35 

P 

Pacific  Ocean,  46-47,  3 12-3 13 
Panama  Canal,  47,  304 
Parliament,  79 
Patriotism,  325 

Peasants:  statistics,  212;  sta- 
tus, 209 

Perry,  Commodore,  74,  279, 
319-320;  sentiment  in 
America  towards  his  expedi- 
tion, 280-282 
Philippines,  31 1,  325 
Physical  characteristics,  92-97 


334 


Index 


Poetry,  1 12-1 13 
Politeness,  167 
Population,  219 
Porter,  Commodore,  262 
Psalmanazar,  George,  234 

R 

Race:  characteristics,  83-115; 
differences,  318,  322;  in 

Japan,  24-25;  question,  3 
Railways,  Nationalisation  of, 

36 

Rainfall,  28 
Rein,  Dr.,  98 

Religion,  Japanese  Concep- 
tion of,  117-119;  see  Bud- 
dhism, Shinto 
Resources,  220,  223 
Restoration,  75-82 
Revenue,  217 
Rice,  29,  213,  220 
Rivers,  34,  37-38 
Roman  Catholicism,  68-7 1 
Roosevelt,  288,  310 

S 

Saghalien,  209,  219,  254 
Samurai,  64,  68,  78,  205-209, 
314;  moral  code,  155-157 
Schools:  elementary,  183,  186; 
mission,  185,  187;  secondary, 
184-185 

Scidmore,  Miss,  90 
Scott,  Prof.  M.  M.,  182 
Shimonoseki:  bombardment, 

302;  Treaty,  237;  indemnity 
returned,  284-285 
Shinto,  73,  121-138;  and  Bud- 
dhism, 141-144;  future  life, 
123,  125-128;  peculiarities, 
131-133:  shrines,  128-129, 
144;  sin,  123-125,  135,  136 
Shogunate,  71-75 
Socialism,  State,  196,  218 
Stature,  92-93 


Stoicism,  166-167 
Student  life,  192- 194 

T 

Taihoku,  242,  246 
Taiwan.  See  Formosa 
Tea:  beverage,  215;  export, 

227;  Formosa,  252 
Tea  ceremony,  64,  72,  187-188 
Temperature,  38 
Tokugawa  Shoguns,  71,  75,  178 
Tokyo  climate,  35 
Trade,  Foreign,  225-227 
Tsuda,  Miss,  185 

U 

Universities,  Imperial,  191; 
Private,  192,  197 

V 

V egetables,  2 1 4-2 1 5 
Volcanoes.  See  Earthquakes 

W 

War  talk,  14-17,  317,  297-298 
Waseda  University,  198 
Wealth,  208,  223;  of  emigrants 
to  America,  292-293;  of 
peasants,  212 

West,  influence,  313;  the  term, 
4 

Whaling,  267,  278 
Women,  beauty  of,  96-^7; 
education,  185:  Nara  period, 
59;  Samurai,  67;  status,  162 

Y 

Yellow  Journalism,  14 
Yellow  Peril,  304 
Yokohama,  42 
Yoritomo,  63 


Jl  Selection  from  the 
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G P.  PUTNAM’S  SONS 


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on  application 


Bushido 

The  Soul  of  Japan 

An  Exposition  of  Japanese  Thought 

By 

Inazo  Nitobe,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  in  the  Imperial  University  of  Tokyo 

President  of  the  First  National  College,  Japan 
Author  of  “The  Japanese  Nation” 

With  an  Introduction  by 

William  Elliott  Griffis 

Author  of  “The  Religion  of  Japan,”  etc. 

Tenth  Revised  and  Enlarged  Edition.  12° 
$1.25  net.  {By  mail,  $1.35) 

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charm  it  is  difficult  to  express  in  a paragraph.  It  is  so 
packed  with  thought ; so  attractive  in  style  ; so  rich  in 
comparative  illustrations  of  Oriental  and  Occidental  ways 
of  looking  at  things,  with  here  and  there  a touch  of  satire, 
but  never  bigoted  or  narrow. 

‘ ‘ Bushido  ” is  the  Japanese  feudal  equivalent  of  chivalry. 
Literally  it  may  be  translated,  “ Military  Knights’  Ways,’’ 
or  “ Precepts  of  Knighthood.”  It  embodies  the  maxims 
of  educational  training  brought  to  bear  on  the  Samurai,  or 
warrior  class  of  Japan,  the  class  that  throughout  the  nation’s 
feudal  age,  which  ended  only  fifty  years  ago,  set  the  stand- 
ard to  the  whole  people  in  manners,  ideals  of  character, 
and  mental  and  moral  codes  of  obligation. 

“ Bushido”  was  an  organic  growth  of  centuries  of  mili- 
tary careers.  It  is  unwritten,  like  the  English  Constitu- 
tion, yet  out  of  it  has  grown  the  Japan  of  to-day. 


G.  P.  Putnam’s  Sons 

New  York  London 


Books  on  Japan 


An  Exposition  of  Japanese  Thought 

Bushido 

The  Soul  of  Japan 

By  Inazo  Nitobe,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  in  the  Imperial  University  of  Kyoto 
Tenth  Revised  and  Enlarged  Edition.  $1.25  net. 
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This  book  is  so  packed  with  thought,  so  attractive  in  style,  so 
rich  in  comparative  illustrations  of  Oriental  and  Occidental  ways  of 
looking  at  things,  with  here  and  there  a touch  of  satire,  but  never 
bigoted  or  narrow,  that  it  is  difiScult  to  express  its  subtle  charm  in 
a paragraph. 

By  George  William  Knox,  D.D., 

Professor  of  the  History  and  Philosophy  of  Religion  in  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  and  Sometime  Piofessor  of  Phi- 
losophy and  Ethics  at  the  Imperial  University,  Tokyo 

Japanese  Life  in  Town  and 
Country 

Cr.  8vo.  Fully  illustrated.  $1.20  net.  By  mail, 
$1.30.  No.  2 in  ” Our  Jtsiatic  Neighbours.” 

“ A delightful  book,  all  the  more  welcome  because  the  ablest 
scholar  in  Japanese  Confucianism  that  America  has  yet  produced 
has  here  given  us  impressions  of  man  and  nature  in  the  Archipelago.” 

Evening  Post. 

The  Development  of  Re- 
ligion in  Japan 

Cr.  8vo.  $1.50  net.  By  mail,  $1.65 
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Our  Asiatic  Neighbours 


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I.— INDIAN  LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND  COUNTRY 

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people,  that  has  been  published  in  a long-  time.  The  reader  will 
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It  is  bristling  with  information,  brisk  and  ^aphic  in  style,  and 
open  minded  and  sinnpathetic  in  feeling.” — Cleveland  Leader. 


II.— JAPANESE  LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND  COUNTRY 

By  George  William  Knox,  D.D. 

“ The  childlike  simplicity,  j-et  innate  complexity  of  the  Japanese 
temperament,  the  strangely  mingled  combination  of  new  and  old, 
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well  brought  out  by  Dr.  Knox's  conscientious  representation.  The 
book  should  be  widely  read  and  studied,  being  eminently  reason- 
able, readable,  reliable,  and  informative.” — Rec<nd-Herald. 

“ A delightful  book,  all  the  more  welcome  because  the  ablest 
scholar  in  Japanese  Confucianism  that  America  has  yet  produced 
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pelago.PoU. 


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JAPANESE  PHYSICAL  TRAINING 

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only  system  recognized  by  the  Japanese  Government. 

Jiu-Jitsu  has  been  practised  for  2500  years  and  has  long 
been  acknowledged  as  the  most  wonderful  of  all  systems  in 
building  up  the  perfect,  healthy  body.  Based  on  common 
sense,  it  has  been  justified  by  splendid  and  unsurpassed  results. 

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